


Alright

by RazzaG



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bromance, Fanfiction, Friendship, Heartbreak, Larry Stylinson Is Real, London, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 01:24:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4415675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RazzaG/pseuds/RazzaG
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Harry broke Louis’ heart almost six months ago, Louis fled with no intentions of ever seeing him again. So, can someone explain why Harry is now standing in his flat looking at him with those beautiful, empty eyes? Or, an AU in which Louis and Zayn are both as fucked up as each other, Harry has stopped smiling, Liam is determined to fix everything, and poor old oblivious Niall is just glad there are more girls for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1 - Alright

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! You may have come across this story a few months ago, I'd posted a few chapters and then not updated in forever, so I took it down and finished it all off so I could post it completely! I think I'll split it into two or three parts to post separately. Hope you enjoy, leave a comment! xx

Yanking open the fridge and quickly skimming through its contents, Louis let out a quiet groan before slamming it shut, stepping backwards and almost tripping over an empty pizza box left strewn on the kitchen floor.

 “Fuck off.” He muttered moodily to the inanimate object, kicking it out of his way and walking the short distance to his bedroom, opening the door and peering in at the raven haired boy laid asleep spread out across his bed.  
  
“Zayn.” He hissed, crossing the room and perching on the edge of the bed beside the other boy.  
  
"Zayn!" He repeated, reaching down to grasp his shoulder and shaking him softly.  
  
“Oi, cheekbones.” He yelled, finally giving up on trying to awaken him nicely.  
  
The sleeping boy let out a long groan before rolling over and opening his eyes a crack.

 "What the fuck, Lou?" He snapped grumpily, which, let’s be honest, was not unusual for the first half an hour or so after he’d woken up. (Louis had quickly learnt not to wake up Zayn unless the matter was of utmost importance.)  
  
"We've got no milk left." Louis mumbled, jutting out his bottom lip slightly (Like making tea for example. Utmost importance.) "I couldn't finish making my tea."  
  
Louis didn’t need to look at Zayn to know that he was rolling his eyes. He did, however, turn his head to grin at the boy when he heard a quiet chuckle. He watched as Zayn ran his hands through his messy hair, a fond smile spread across his lips. "Couldn’t this have at least waited until a suitable hour?"

Louis hesitated, shrugging sheepishly. "Sorry. I just didn’t want to go alone…” He muttered, his fringe falling over his eyes as he looked down. “And, it’s almost eleven.”   
  
Zayn sighed quietly, but pulled himself upwards into a sitting position anyway. He yawned loudly, stretching his arms out with a groan before getting out of the bed and walking towards the door.  
  
 Louis took a moment to admire his best friend. Messy hair, a stain on his shirt that was probably pizza sauce from last night, and clad only in a pair of boxers that were most likely dirty; Louis would still class him as possibly the most attractive guy he’d ever met.   
  
Zayn turned slightly when he reached the door, looking at Louis over his shoulder. "Let me shower and get ready, and we'll go together, alright?"  
  
Louis smiled gratefully at him before getting up to pick an outfit for the day. There had been a time where Louis would have spent close to an hour getting ready, and styling his hair to perfection. Now, his outfits were made up of the first thing he saw that was clean, or reasonably clean anyway (he was still a boy) and he was lucky if a brush even made it within a foot of his hair.

 Whilst he tugged on a pair of black skinny jeans, he pondered over the milk situation. Zayn could've easily teased him, been grumpy with him, or laughed at him, but he hadn’t. He never did. Louis loved him for that.

It'd only been five and a half months since the pair had met, but Louis had never felt so comfortable, felt so _loved_ around someone before. Well, excluding his family, and… Harry. Louis shook away his train of thought, ignoring the painful clench he'd felt in his heart.

Louis had moved to London almost 6 months ago now, knowing absolutely nobody, without a plan or a job, and had met Zayn by pure chance on his very first night. You could call it fate, or at least that’s what Louis liked to call it, which he was incessantly teased about. Both boys were new to the city, both looking for somewhere to live (Zayn having crashed on a mate’s sofa for a couple of weeks prior) and both trying to figure their fucked up lives out.

After meeting at a pub and spending an hour drinking, and complaining about their ridiculous lives, they'd decided it would make complete sense to move in together, neither stopping to consider what could possibly go wrong there. They’d only made the decision because the rent would be cheaper if it was split, of course, not because they’d found themselves laughing more than they had in a while, not because they both felt so entirely alone, and definitely not because they both desperately needed someone.

Thinking back on the night, his first night in the city, Louis let out a small chuckle at how things had changed. Both Louis and Zayn were now enrolled at separate universities, Zayn studying art and English, and Louis, drama. Outside of university, Louis had managed to secure a part time job at a Costa down the road, and Zayn worked a few of nights a week as a bartender.

 Those were the nights Louis usually spent hanging out with Niall, whom they’d met in a club, the loud blonde bouncing up to them and complementing Louis’ ass, simultaneously stealing Zayn’s beer. The three had been practically inseparable since.

 From the very beginning, Louis had known it was no coincidence when Zayn had started ‘accidentally’ inviting Niall over on the nights that he worked, ‘forgetting’ that he had a shift at the bar. Louis wasn’t an idiot, he’d realised almost immediately what Zayn was doing, making sure someone was there with Louis when he couldn’t be, but Louis had bitten his tongue and humoured Zayn, knowing he meant well, and in all honestly, Louis wasn’t too keen being alone, so it worked out pretty damn well seeing as Niall was now the third pea in their pod, living in the other, ever so slightly dodgier, block of flats down their road.

Louis shook away his thoughts, and threw on a t-shirt, adding a hoodie on top just for good measure. It was nearing June now, and the weather was relatively warm, but Louis had lost an awful lot of weight in the past few months and had found himself shivering when he shouldn't have been, needing the extra layers sometimes. Zayn never ridiculed him or even commented on it, he'd always just chuck Louis an extra blanket or wrap his arm around the smaller boy. He looked after Louis like that. They looked after each other. It was just how their relationship worked.

After Louis had brushed his teeth, he ran a hand through his tousled hair a couple of times before sighing and giving up on attempting to fix it. He grabbed a fiver from the side of his bed and opened his window with a shove, leaning out of it and lighting up a cigarette, another habit he'd picked up from Zayn, admittedly one of the worse ones.

He looked down at the street below him, absentmindedly humming a tune under his breath, which sounded awfully similar to the shit that Niall had been playing the other night, whilst watching the bustle of London on the streets. It was a very far cry from Doncaster, so much so that Louis was hardly ever reminded of it, something that he was incredibly thankful for. At least London had been a good choice, he thought. He couldn’t have picked somewhere more different to Doncaster if he’d tried.  
  
His train of thought was abruptly ruined when he heard the shower stop and the soft sound of padding feet leaving the bathroom and heading towards the direction of Zayn’s room, which, admittedly he rarely slept in, preferring to sleep beside Louis. Louis wasn’t complaining, he found it difficult to sleep at all, even whilst he could hear the soft breathing of Zayn beside him, let alone attempting to sleep on his own.  
  
 With a chuckle, Louis realised that most people would consider their friendship a bit on the stranger side. They did everything together, from sleeping in the same bed, to sharing clothes, to partying, to getting tattoos. It was rare for them to spend more than a few hours apart, but they never ever tired of each other. They were exactly what the other needed, and whilst both spent the majority of their time in a depressive state, and no matter how unhealthy their relationship could be considered, at least they had each other. And Niall. Can’t forget good ol’ Niall.  
  
"Lou, you ready?" He heard Zayn call from outside his bedroom door, just as Louis was putting out his fag. Louis hurried out of his room, slipping on his worn down pair of black vans on the way, smiling fondly when Zayn wrapped an arm around his shoulder and led them out of the flat.  
  
"Alright?" Zayn asked, peering down at him.  
  
"Alright." Louis responded, receiving a nod from Zayn in response.

-

It was the little things like food shopping that Louis really struggled with. He could go out on his own no problem, attend his university lectures, easy, but when it came to certain things, the things he'd come to associate with Harry, he couldn't face it alone, he needed a distraction, otherwise it just hurt too damn much. Looking up, Louis realised that they’d reached the milk aisle and watched Zayn grab the brand that Louis always bought. Well, the brand he’d always bought since he'd moved to London, anyways. God, he couldn't even bring himself to buy the brand that he and Harry had always bought, the one Louis had always denied liking because it was healthy and organic and Harry had insisted on Louis buying it with his pretty wide eyes and plump little pouty lips, and Louis had kicked up too much of a fuss at the time to ever admit that actually Harry had been right, it did taste better than the one that Louis was used to buying.  
  
God, Louis was so unbelievably pathetic it was almost laughable. After he'd told Zayn the first time they'd gone shopping, Zayn hadn't laughed at him like anyone else would've, though, he'd simply picked up a bottle on another shelf and put it in the basket. "Fancy getting some cereal with this?" He'd asked at the time.

Back to the present though, and Louis' heart still sunk every time he stepped foot into a supermarket. Zayn didn't sneak fruits and vegetables and silly little healthy snacks into the trolley, hoping Louis wouldn't notice, like Harry had done. Zayn didn't ever ask Louis if he wanted to play hide and seek when choosing food became too much of a chore.

Not to be mistaken, Louis loved Zayn with everything he had left; it was just _different_ and left Louis’ heart aching every single time without fail. Louis ran a hand through his hair and wondered if feeling like this would ever go away, letting Zayn gently tug him into the next aisle.

The boys quickly finished shopping, neither of them in the mood to linger for longer than necessary, Louis managing to sneak a packet of biscuits into the basket, something he considered a win since Zayn didn’t protest, simply rolling an eye and fondly smiling. They walked home slowly, arm in arm, in comfortable silence.

-

It was later that night, the boys seated on their living room floor, surrounded by empty boxes of Chinese takeaway with Niall snoring on the sofa beside them that Louis looked to Zayn and asked softly.  
  
"Do you miss home?"  
  
Zayn visibly stiffened before peering down at Louis and shrugging, a small frown upon his lips.  
  
"They kicked me out, Lou. There's no point missing it. Can't ever go back, can I?"  
  
Louis nodded, frowning too, and placing a hand on Zayn’s knee. "I hate them for that, you know. I know I've never met them, but I hate them for doing that to you, Z."  
  
Zayn leant over and ruffled Louis' hair, affectionately. "I'm gay, Louis. I knew what would happen if I came out to them. I just didn’t want to hide myself anymore. I couldn’t.”  
  
At Louis’ concerned expression, Zayn added a quick, “Don't worry about it, though. I'm alright. Got you, don’t I?" He said, wiggling an eyebrow, and offering a teasing grin.  
  
Louis stared at him momentarily but nodded. The boys rarely spoke about their pasts, neither one wanting to remember, but moments like these, the four am nights lit only by the soft glow of the television, always seemed to bring out deep conversations between the two boys.  
  
“Of course, yeah. Always mate.” Louis told him, with a small smile. "I'm alright too." He tacked on, after a moment’s pause.  
  
Zayn nodded, pressing a soft kiss to Louis’ temple before turning back to the TV, neither boy believing the other, but neither questioning it either. They were both broken, in different ways albeit, but both in pieces that seemed beyond repair.

-

Later that night, long after they’d switched off the TV and thrown a blanket over Niall’s drooling form, Louis was in his bed tucked up against Zayn’s side, his eyes tightly closed, and willing sleep to come.

When it finally did, an immeasurable amount of time later, it came in the form of Harry. His soft brown curls and bright green eyes, of his deep, musical laughter that Louis no longer heard, of the way his body curled around Louis’, their bodies fitting together so perfectly, and how happy they'd been. How utterly in love they'd been.

The nights he dreamt of Harry, god, he never wanted to wake up.

-

 

Fast forward a week and it was four thirty on a warm Sunday afternoon. Zayn, Louis and Niall were lying lazily on the tiny balcony attached to Louis and Zayn’s flat, the boys tired out from their exhaustive FIFA tournament that they’d spent the morning conducting. (Louis had won, closely beating Niall, Zayn posing no significant threat because, let’s face it, he’d thrown down the remote and gone out for a smoke about three minutes into his first match, admitting defeat.)  
  
Limbs all tangled up together, the boys relished in finally having finished with university for the summer. They were able to relax and simply bask in the sun, a rarity for living in London, one that Louis had come to greatly appreciate.   
  
A joint grasped in his hand, Louis let out a long sigh and broke the comfortable silence by mumbling, “This time last year, I was on a camping trip at the beach.”  
  
Zayn’s head shot up immediately, as he glanced over at his best friend, eyebrows furrowed slightly. Louis’ must’ve been using his ‘harry’ tone, as Zayn called it, because Louis hadn’t even mentioned his name and Zayn already knew who he’d been talking about.

“If I ever meet this curly haired fuck, I’ll punch him so hard he won’t wake up.”  
  
“Don’t say that.” Louis snapped, always quick to defend Harry.  
  
“I’ll give you a hand, mate.” Niall directed towards Zayn, before looking over at Louis. “He really did a number on you, aye.” He spoke up, frowning slightly, an unusual occurrence for Niall.  
  
“Guys.” Louis warned, looking down and puffing on his joint again.  
  
“Sorry.” Zayn mumbled, looking at Louis sheepishly. “I know you don’t like it when we talk like that about him.”  
  
Louis nodded, slowly, his face softening. Louis, no matter how hard he’d tried, could not stay mad at Zayn, under any circumstances, something which Zayn abused, frequently, the bastard.

 “It’s just like, I want to hate him, you know, but I just can’t.” Louis responded, feeling awfully pathetic.  
  
Suddenly, he felt a warm hand on his thigh and another on his shoulder and glanced between his two best mates, mustering a smile. “I just want to be happy again, you know?” This must’ve been the weed talking. Definitely the weed.  
  
They both nodded sympathetically.

 “You will be, Lou.” Zayn told him, giving his shoulder a short squeeze and rub before leaning back into his creaking metal chair.

Niall pinched Louis playfully and let out a loud barking laugh, never one to take anything seriously. “Louis, people fall in love more than once, you know that right? You’ll get over him soon, just give it time.” He told him, patting his thigh before returning to his beer.

Louis nodded and shot him a smile that he hoped was convincing, but he knew that what Niall had said wasn’t true. Not for him, anyway. Louis knew that Harry had ruined him for anyone else. Louis would never want anyone else again, one of the few things that he was absolutely sure of.

With Louis and Harry, it had been a forever type of thing. Louis was seventeen when they’d met, and Harry, who’d just turned sixteen, had come into his life and completely taken over it. From day one, Louis had known that this boy was _the one_.   
  
Harry had been his everything. Louis simply hadn’t planned a future without Harry in his life, hadn’t even considered the possibility that he’d ever need to, so when Harry up and broke up with him out of the blue in Louis’ first year of university, he hadn’t even spared a thought before packing up his shit, dropping out of university and getting on the next train to London.

 He still didn’t understand why, if he was honest. It’s like one day; they suddenly went from being so, obsessively in love and talking 24/7, to abruptly going days without hearing from each other. Their daily phone calls and weekly trips had turned into a few scarce texts and a ‘promise to see you next week instead?’, Harry busy studying for exams, and Louis, what with his lectures and new friends, fooled himself into thinking that it was just a rough patch, nothing they couldn’t fix. They were Harry and Louis, for fuck’s sake.

 Then, one day, whilst Louis had been half way through packing his bag, all set to go and surprise his Harry, he got a phone call.  
  
“Curly! Guess what-“  
  
“I can’t do this anymore.” Harry interjected his voice low and serious, a tone Louis was not accustomed to, a tone he rarely heard from his boy.  
  
“What are you talking about, baby?” Louis asked, his eyebrows furrowing. Something wasn’t right. He just knew. His heart had started to beat rapidly, a sick feeling spreading throughout his stomach.  
  
“Come on, Louis. You know it hasn’t been the same since you started uni.” Harry muttered, bitterly, shocking Louis into silence for several moments.  
  
“You... Louis?” The only response Louis had pathetically mustered up. Harry hadn’t called him Louis since they’d first met.   
  
He heard Harry sigh, quietly. “I think if we spend some time apart...”  
  
“What? Why? Was it something I did? Haz, I swear, I’ll text more, I know I’ve been busy, but I can change that, baby, I swear. “  
  
“Stop, Louis. I said I can’t do this anymore.” Harry told him, raising his voice, shocking Louis once again. Louis hadn’t missed the crack in his voice though. That must mean something, right? Harry must be upset about this, too?  
  
“Harry, you know as well as I do that there isn’t anything that we can’t get through. I love you.” Louis told him, his tone pleading and desperate. Louis couldn’t bring himself to care. He couldn’t do this without Harry, Harry was everything to him.

The line went silent for a long while, Louis gripping his phone tensely.   
  
“I… I don’t.”

What? Louis felt like he’d been punched in the stomach and slapped round the face at the same time. He felt like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. Harry didn’t love Louis? If there had been one thing in the world that Louis was certain about, that Louis could trust, it was that Harry had loved him. If that was a lie, what did Louis have left?  
  
“You…” Louis voice, shaking and broken, had started to say, before Harry cut him off.  
  
“Fuck, Lou. I don’t know. I don’t fucking need this right now, okay? We’ll talk soon.”

 _Beep beep_.

 Harry had hung up on him. That was the last time Louis had heard Harry’s voice in almost six months.

  
-

  
It was Thursday afternoon, and fresh from a shift at work, Louis was lounging on the sofa, flicking through TV channels, nothing really capturing his interest.

He could hear the soft pattering of water coming from Zayn’s shower, and it comforted him, in a weird way, knowing that Zayn was near.

He was caught off guard at the soft buzzing of his phone beside him on the sofa, shocking him out of his reverie. Zayn was in the flat, Niall out with a mate, and his mum at work. Nobody else ever really rang him.

He grabbed his phone and stopped short, his heart beat rapidly increasingly with each passing second.  
  
The name _Liam_ lit up the screen, something that Louis hadn't seen since three months ago, when he'd given up trying to get in contact with Louis, not that Louis blamed him at all. He had never responded to Liam’s valiant efforts, preferring to be a miserable lonely bastard instead.

Back in Doncaster, Liam, Louis and Harry had been best friends. The three of them had been inseparable before it had all happened. Louis tried not to think about it too much, but sometimes he caught himself wondering what they were doing, or how the dynamic between them had changed since Louis’ departure, or whether or not they ever talked about him.  
  
A flash of guilt swept through him, and Louis found himself accepting the call before he'd even thought twice about it.   
  
Mentally cursing himself, he took a deep breath and mumbled a quiet, "Hey."  
  
"Louis, oh my god, mate, how are you? I've missed you so much, why haven't you answered any of my calls you absolute dickhe-"  
  
Louis cut him off with a small laugh, easing slightly. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed hearing Liam's voice, how much it felt like home. "I'm sorry, really mate. It's just been... Hard, you know?"  
  
Liam made an understanding sound and sighed. "I get it. It's been bad here too; Harry's been-"  
  
"Please." Louis cut in, harsher than he’d intended. "Can we not talk about him?"  
  
Liam paused again before agreeing. “Yeah. Of course. Sorry… How have you been, then? I need to know _everything_ I’ve missed while you’ve been off being a dickhead.”

 That was that. The boys conversed easily, Liam launching into tales of how his last year of school had been, how shit his exams had gone, how he’d broken up with Danielle a couple of months ago, and everything else that’d been going on in his life, carefully leaving out any details to do with Harry.

Louis listened carefully, laughing along with him at the right moments and reassuring him that he'd be fine. "So, uni now yeah? Where you applied to? Always wanted to stay close to Donny, didn’t you?" Louis asked him after they’d been chatting for a while.  
  
Liam laughed and Louis could practically see the grin on his face through the phone. "Actually, that's sort of the reason I called. I got accepted into King's, Lou! I'm moving to London! I thought I'd give trying to call you another go before I resorted to physically tracking you down."  
  
Louis snickered and ran a hand through his hair, a smile spreading across his lips. "You're moving here?" He asked, in slight disbelief. “What happened to staying close to home?”  
  
Liam coughed uncomfortably before answering. "Things change, Lou. You know that just as much as I do. But anyway, means you'll be forced to see me all the time." Liam replied, cheerfully.  
  
"You say that like it’s a punishment.” Louis murmured, guiltily. “You know, I didn’t mean to cut you out of my life, Li...”

“Why did you do it, Louis?” Liam asked, his voice sounded hurt. “Did you think I’d pick a side on this? You’re my _best mate._ ”

“Liam.” Louis breathed, guilt and sadness washing over him. “I’m sorry. I really am… It just hurt too much. Thinking about you made me think about him, so I just tried to push it all away. I’m so sorry.” He apologized, hoping he sounded as sincere as he felt.   
  
Liam paused, and Louis listened to his breathing over the phone for a while.  
  
“Stop apologizing, yeah? Honestly, I get it. Just pleased we’re talking now.” Liam told him after a moment, as forgiving as ever. “Don’t think you’ll be able to get rid of me that easily this time, though.” He warned, his tone playful but Louis could still hear the edge in his voice.  
  
“Wouldn’t dream of it. I can't wait to see you." Louis told him, genuinely. "When are you coming up then?"  
  
"In a couple of weeks, actually, like officially, but I was thinking of coming up a little bit earlier, you know, to see you, if you want, I mean, it's not-"  
  
"Stop, Liam. Of course I want to see you; it's been way too fucking long-"  
  
"Lou!" Zayn's voice interrupted his speech. Glancing to the right, Louis saw his head poking out from his bedroom, damp hair sticking to his forehead.  
  
“Who was that?” Liam’s curious voice sounded from the phone. Louis motioned for Zayn to go back into his room, which Zayn proceeded to ignore, instead waddling over with his towel wrapped around his waist, plopping himself down next to Louis and pressing his ear against the phone in Louis’ hand. Nosy bastard.

Louis rolled his eyes but made no move to stop him, instead, answering Liam. “Just my flatmate.”  
  
Zayn feigned outrage at this, covering his heart with his hands, and muttering an appalled “ _Just_ your flatmate?!” Louis smirked and blew him a kiss before focusing his attention back on the phone.  
  
Liam, who for some reason sounded like he was choking on something, cleared his throat before answering. “Oh. You didn’t mention you had a flatmate.” He answered, hesitantly.  
  
“A wonderful and sexy flatmate, at that.” Louis replied, with a short laugh, for Zayn’s benefit, smirking when Zayn grinned, satisfied.   
  
“Oh. Sick.” Liam responded with a short, awkward laugh. Louis took that as his cue to end the call, slightly confused as to Liam’s sudden change in mood.  
  
“Anyways, Li. I’ll text you the address and everything, yeah? And you’ll let me know when you’re arriving and stuff?”  
  
“Uh, yeah. Course, Tommo. Can’t wait! Thanks again!” Liam responded, pausing for a moment before adding. “Glad to hear your voice, mate.”  
  
Louis smiled a proper genuine smile. “And you, Liam. I’ll see you in a week.” Louis told him, before they said their goodbyes and hung up. Louis looked to Zayn, a grin on his face, which Zayn returned quickly.  
  
“You don’t mind if Liam stays here for a few nights do you?”  
  
Louis had expected Zayn to moan, it was no secret that he wasn’t exactly the most hospitable guy around, he liked his space to be his space, and didn’t care much for strangers, so Louis was extremely surprised, to say the least, when Zayn’s face lit up with a grin and he immediately agreed, pulling Louis into a hug and telling him he couldn’t wait to meet Liam.

 Louis could’ve cried. Zayn knew how much Louis needed this; he’d been constantly trying to convince Louis to get in touch his mates back home anyway, and so didn’t even bother to try and hide his pleased expression at this development. Anything that made Louis happy, or that would keep the huge smile on his face for a second longer, Zayn would agree to, no matter the downsides.

Zayn would do anything to make his best friend happy, and vice versa. That’s just how they worked.

-

A few hours later, Louis was lying in bed, listening to Zayn’s breathy snores and replaying the phone conversation with Liam over in his head, when his eyes shot open and heart started to beat, rapidly. Had he imagined hearing a door slam, from Liam’s end of the phone, towards the end of their chat? Why hadn’t he noticed it before?  
  
Louis contemplated the million possibilities of who it could’ve been, but only one name filled his head.  
  
Harry.  
  
Had Harry been there with Liam? Had he been listening? Had he heard how broken Louis had sounded?

It’s safe to say that Louis didn’t sleep a wink that night.

-

Louis couldn’t remember a time when he’d actually been looking forward to something so much.  
  
Zayn, who would normally be unhappy at the invasion of their home, was surprisingly wonderful about it. Louis suspected that Zayn thought this was definitely a good thing for Louis, and didn’t kick up a fuss. He even helped Louis clean their apartment, which was a task in itself, neither of them usual bothering to keep tidy.  
  
 The few days before Liam’s arrival were spent throwing take away cartons out, hovering, mopping, changing sheets, and putting clothes away. The boys even splurged a little on some actual, mildly healthy food. Their fridge usually had about two things in it, but it was packed full by the day Liam was due to arrive, mostly due to Niall, who’d managed to shove about half of Tesco’s into their trolley whilst shopping. Then again, he’d eaten about half of what they’d bought as well, so that would have to be taken into account.

By around six thirty, half an hour before Liam was due to arrive; Louis was standing in front of his mirror, trying to stop himself from throwing up. He’d lost a lot of weight since he’d last seen Liam, his hair was longer and more straggly, his body now splattered with tattoos, and he didn’t know how Liam would react.   
  
Would he think Louis looked awful? Liam would be looking just as good as ever, naturally. Tall, muscular, hair done all nice and well dressed. Louis couldn’t help but feel inadequate. What if he thought Louis looked like shit?  
  
“Babe, you look fine.” Zayn spoke up from his position on the bed, answering Louis’ unspoken thoughts. He’d been lounging about, watching Louis with an amused expression. “More than fine. Hot, actually. If we’d met before all this shit, I might’ve banged you.” Zayn continued, with a casual shrug.  
  
Louis scoffed and leant over to punch him in the arm. “Gee, thanks Z.”  
  
Zayn snickered in response and jumped up to stand next to Louis, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.  
  
“He’s your best mate, Louis. Nothing will have changed; it’s only been a few months.”  
  
“You’re my best mate, too.” Louis shot back, earning a grin and sloppy, mushy kiss on the cheek from Zayn.  
  
The atmosphere immediately changed when they heard three sharp knocks on the door. Louis sucked in a breath and grabbed Zayn’s arm.  
  
“Oh fuck.” Louis whispered, panic really settling in, quickly running a hand through his hair.  
  
“Calm down.” Zayn told him, squeezing him tightly.  
  
 When Louis didn’t move, Zayn rolled his eyes and continued. “C’mon, Lou. Can’t leave him waiting, can you?” Zayn asked reassuringly, giving him a light shove towards the door.   
  
Louis turned and gave him a nervous smile before walking briskly out of his bedroom and towards the front door, plastering an enthusiastic grin on his face before he swung it open.

A second later, he wished he hadn’t. He really really wished he hadn’t.

-

 

Louis felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest and the air sucked out of his lungs, all in one go. His grin quickly fell from his lips, replaced with what he imagined to be a mixture of horrified shock.

 He felt like he was going to be sick.  
  
 Ignoring Liam, who was standing there with a half sheepish, half nervous smile on his lips, Louis gaze focused on the other person standing out in the hallway. The second their eyes connected Louis could’ve collapsed, he could’ve burst into tears right then and there, but he didn’t.

 Harry.

He looked exhausted, to say the least. His hair was longer than it had been the last time Louis’ saw him, and slightly unruly. He had bags under his eyes that looked permanent, and his eyes, usually so bright and green and full of life were dull, and empty. Even so, he was still the most beautiful thing that Louis had ever laid eyes on. It took his breath away.

Had Louis done this to him? He thought, briefly, before shaking away the idea. No. Harry had ended it with Louis. Harry had said he didn’t love him anymore.

How dare he show up like this?  
  
After a moment of tense silence, Louis realised that they were waiting for him to say something, and managed to choke out a quiet, “What the fuck are you doing here?” coming out slightly harsher than he’d intended.

 Harry visibly flinched at the tone of his voice, opening his mouth as if to respond when they were interrupted by a voice coming from behind Louis.

“Lou, don’t make the poor guy stand outside- “ Zayn had started to say, his voice light and friendly, until he’d rounded the corner to the front door and froze on the spot, body going rigid.  
  
 Zayn wasn’t an idiot, he knew Louis had only been expecting one person, and Louis had spoken enough about Harry for it to only take a short second before it had clicked and Zayn had immediately recognized who he was.

In a heartbeat, Zayn had started marching towards them. Well, towards Harry. Louis quickly reached out to grab his arm, stopping him from anything stupid he was about to do.

 Right now, Harry was the last person he wanted to see, but still, didn’t mean Louis wanted him beaten up. Louis dragged his eyes away from Harry, whose slightly narrowed eyes were zeroed in on Louis’ hand, to look at Zayn.

Their eyes connected and Louis begged him silently not to do anything. After a moment, Zayn let out a sigh, but relaxed his posture slightly and turned back towards their visitors. Not before pulling Louis into his side, letting Louis lean into his touch.

“Come back to break his heart a second time, have you?” Zayn asked Harry, maliciously, a scowl on his face. “Didn’t do enough damage the first time? Thought you’d have another go?”   
  
Harry’s eyes snapped from Louis, who had uncomfortably shifted under Zayn’s arm at his glare, to look at Zayn himself, a look of utter shock and anguish on his face.

“N-no. Of course not, I just... I wanted to-“

Louis almost collapsed at the sound of his voice. He found himself leaning into Zayn, whose arm seemed to be the only thing holding him upright.

“Wanted to what?” Zayn snapped, leaning towards Harry with a look that even frightened Louis a little. “You’ve got some fucking balls to show up here-“

“Enough.” Liam interrupted, all three pairs of eyes flickering towards him for the first time since they’d arrived. “Look, Louis, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought him without telling you-“

“You shouldn’t have brought him at all.” Zayn retorted, eyes narrowing at Liam before glaring at Harry once again.

“Zayn.” Louis muttered quietly, his eyes trained on the floor.

“No, Louis. This isn’t okay.” Zayn said, quietly, not taking his eyes off of Harry, who was visibly crumbling under Zayn’s harsh words. “Are you trying to hurt him?” Zayn questioned Harry, viciously. “Do you not think he’s been through _enough_?!”

“Z.” Louis repeated, shooting him an embarrassed glare. “Leave it.” He mumbled, more quietly, a pleading edge to his voice. “ _Please.”_

Zayn opened his mouth to say something else but a glance at Louis shut him up, although Louis could still feel his stiff posture beside him.

Another tense silence followed before Liam spoke up again. “Harry’s coming to uni here too, and I should’ve warned you, I know, but…” Liam trailed off when Louis stiffened with this new piece of information.

He risked a glance at Harry who he found staring right back at him, his eyes filled with something Louis couldn’t place. Louis looked away quickly.

 Harry was moving to London too. Louis was going to have to watch Harry move on with his life, he’d have to watch Harry be happy without him. The thought alone was almost unbearable.

When Louis didn’t respond, Harry spoke up, his voice quiet and gravely. It was deeper, than Louis could remember. 

“This was a shit idea. I’ll just go to a hotel or something.” Harry muttered quickly, turning on his heel and grabbing his bags from the ground. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come.” He mumbled quietly.

“No.” Louis found himself saying, pretty much shouting, really, much to the surprise of everyone, including himself.

“I mean. I don’t want you guys to have to spend shit loads of money. I promised you could stay here and we’ve already made up a bed and stuff, so...” He glanced at Harry again before looking at Liam, who was still frowning “So, until your flat is ready... You can stay here, I guess. Both of you.” He said, quietly, not daring to look at Harry again.

He stepped out of the way, gripping Zayn’s arm after a moment and yanking him backwards as well. Zayn shot Harry another glare, and then sighed, motioning for them to come in.

“Thank you.” Liam had told them, kindly, voice riddled with relief.

Louis watched Zayn’s eyes flicker to Liam, seeming to notice him for the first time. He saw a flash of something in his eyes, interest, maybe? He’d ask Zayn later, when they were alone.

“Just leave your shit over there.” Zayn mumbled, looking away quickly, making up for Louis’ lack of speaking. “Lou, uh, shall we go and check on dinner?” He asked, shooting Louis a look.

 Louis nodded numbly and quickly turned to the kitchen. Moments later he heard the door shut softly behind him, and Zayn’s warm arms embracing him.

“What the fuck do we do?” Zayn asked him in a hushed tone, running a hand through Louis’ hair soothingly.

“We get through tonight, yeah? Then deal with everything tomorrow.” Louis said, mostly to reassure himself.

 Zayn nodded and then sighed. “Are you okay? Do you want me to kick him out?”  
  
“They don’t have anywhere else to go. I know he hurt me, but I’m not going to make him homeless, Zayn.” Louis sighed, earning an eye roll but curt nod from Zayn in response.

“Alright. Okay.” He said, nodding with a pensive expression. “You want to sneak out the window, and I can tell them that you had to run to work or something?” Zayn asked, still glancing at Louis worriedly.

Louis shook his head, slowly, even though his thoughts were whirring at a hundred miles an hour. “I’ll be alright, Zayn. Let’s just have dinner, yeah?”

-

Zayn had gone into the living room to get Harry and Liam to sit down whilst Louis finished dishing up the food. At the sound of the kitchen door opening behind him, Louis spoke up.

“God, Zayn. I don’t know if I can do this -“ He started, spinning around to meet a pair of green eyes. “Oh.” He whispered, quickly averting his eyes. “Thought you were Zayn.” He mumbled, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

“You’ve lost weight.” Harry whispered, stepping carefully towards him, frowning when Louis flinched. “And your hair. It’s longer.”

Louis laughed, bitterly. “Sorry. My looks weren’t exactly a top priority over the past few months.”

Harry frowned and shook his head, quickly. “No, Lou.” The nickname rolled off his tongue without thought, causing Louis’ head to snap up and look at him. “You look… fuck. So so perfect. It’s just… different. I wasn’t expecting you to be... different.”

Louis ignored the swelling of his chest, swallowing slowly before responding. “Well, I wasn’t expecting you to up and show up out of fucking nowhere. Guess we’ve both been surprised today.” Louis snapped, walking into the living room and sitting down next to Liam, not looking at anyone.

One look at Louis’ expression and Zayn hopped up to bring out the food himself. Louis internally thanked him for being mildly hospitable for once.

Louis refused to look up when he heard the chair across from him being pulled out. He refused to look up when he heard Liam’s hushed voice saying something to Harry. He refused to look up when he felt eyes on him. When he heard Zayn sit down, they sat in an awkward silence for several moments before Louis glanced at Zayn, and Zayn told them to dig in.

"This is really good. Do you cook?" Liam said after a few more moments, glancing at Zayn, an experience of feigned innocence on his face.

"Lou made it, actually." Zayn replied, fondly, gazing over at Louis. Harry's head snapped up from where he'd been looking at the table.

"You cooked?" He asked, directed at Louis. Louis glanced at him, and almost flinched when his eyes connected with Harry's.

"Uh, yeah." He responded pathetically, but Harry nodded quickly, lapping up the new found information.

Liam let out an uneasy chuckle. “Wow. Never thought I’d see the day.” He said, attempting to ease the situation.

Louis listened to Zayn chuckle, and forced out a laugh himself.

“He was nothing before he met me, brought out all his best qualities.” Zayn joked, his face falling slightly when everything went quiet. The slightly playful attitude had quickly faded. Louis looked up in time to see Harry grip the edge of the table, his hands clenched.

Louis seemed to be having trouble processing the fact that Harry, his Harry, that he thought he'd never speak to, or see again, was sitting at his table eating food that he'd cooked, in his shitty apartment, with his two best friends.

 He didn't know how the hell Harry could sit here after dumping Louis and ignoring all his texts and calls, after what they'd had.

When he finally glanced away, he found Liam watching them with a pleased smile and Zayn’s eyes trained on Liam. Louis felt a flicker of amusement flash through him, despite the situation, and nudged Zayn with his knee, snapping him out of his reverie and causing a light blush to spread across his cheeks as he glanced at Louis, knowing he'd been caught staring.

 God, Louis hadn't predicted this. Liam was not in any way Zayn's type, and Louis had certainly not anticipated that. Harry watched the exchange between the two with slightly narrowed eyes, his fist clenching tightly around his fork, as Liam began to ramble about their trip up there and what they'd be doing the next few days.

Louis was even more grateful when Zayn began responding, asking questions and feigning disinterest. If Louis asked later, Zayn would tell him he was making conversation for Louis' sake, but Louis knew that Zayn had developed some weird interest in Liam in the short time they'd known each other, and as Louis listened to them chat, he almost felt like he was intruding.

When he heard Zayn burst out laughing at something Liam had said, Louis couldn't help the grin that spread across his lips. Zayn was laughing, _properly_ laughing, and god if Louis had to suffer through Harry's presence to see Zayn happy, he would do it. Louis' grin faded quickly when he'd risked a glance at Harry and caught him staring at him.

Louis looked around, noticing almost everyone's plates were empty and stood up abruptly. "I'll just clear the plates away."

"Lou." Zayn said, his tone serious, glancing down at Louis' almost untouched plate. Zayn had already been on Louis' case for not eating enough, and from the look in Zayn's eyes he was not going to get away without eating at least a little. Louis sat down again slowly, avoiding Liam's curious glance, and Harry's watchful gaze.

 Louis picked up his fork and stabbed a piece of pasta, shoving it in his mouth. He heard Zayn's chair scoot out from under the table and him collecting the others plates, taking them into the kitchen.

Louis refused to look up from his food, being alone with Liam and Harry for the first time since they'd arrived.

He knew Zayn had done it on purpose in an attempt to get them to talk. Bastard.  
  
"So, Louis, you up for showing us around tomorrow?" Liam asked, keeping his tone cheerful but Louis could still hear the slight worry in his voice.

Louis took a deep breath and looked up at Liam. No matter how much he wanted to, he just couldn't be mad at him.

If the situation had been reversed, Louis probably would've done the same thing, and he couldn't blame Liam for trying to fix things. He'd been in the middle of an uncomfortable situation, and Louis couldn't blame him for wanting to be with his two best friends.

Louis smiled a genuine smile at Liam, and watched as relief washed across his face. "Of course, mate. Love to." He responded, making a grin flash across Liam's face, before he grew serious again.

"I just want to sorry again though, Louis, I don't know what I was thinking, not telling you, it was stu-"

"Shut up, ya mong." Louis said, watching as Liam laughed and crossed the table, grabbing him and pulling him into a tight hug. Louis relaxed into his arms and held on tighter than necessary, breathing in Liam's all too familiar scent.

 "Missed you." Liam mumbled into his hair.

"I missed you too." Louis responded, more truthful than Liam knew, pulling back and ignoring Harry's eyes on him, instead looking to Zayn who was standing at the door with a smug smile on his face.   
  
Louis flipped him off, earning a grin from Zayn and a laugh from Liam. The moment abruptly ruined when the screech of Harry's chair, signalling him standing up, sounded loudly through the apartment.

"Uh, where's the toilet?" His deep, raspy voice sounded, and Louis found himself peering at him.

"It's over there." Louis answered, softly, pointing in the direction.

Harry offered him a small smile, his eyes lighting up at Louis’ words, as if he’d told him he’d cured cancer or something.   
  
Louis watched Harry’s retreating form, until he felt a warm arm on his back.

“Come on, Lou.” Zayn mumbled, tugging him into the kitchen.

-

Louis watched with a small smile on his face as Zayn and Liam washed up together, both with faint blushes on their faces, both gazing at each other when the other wasn’t looking.   
  
Typical, Louis had thought. The two people he’d never imagined even getting along, and here they were, making gooey eyes at each other.   
  
Louis slipped out of the room quietly and slid open the glass door leading to the balcony. It was still pleasantly warm despite being night time, but Louis still shivered slightly. He lit up a cigarette, leaning over the balcony and peering down at the street below.  
  
 Letting out a stream of smoke slowly, he closed his eyes and attempted to wrap his head around what was happening. Not having heard the door opening behind him, he jumped slightly when he heard an all too familiar voice sound quietly from behind him.

“Lou?”

Louis flinched but didn’t dare turn around, instead taking another drag.   
  
“You’re… You smoke?” Harry spoke again, this time sounding a mixture of shocked and pained.

“It would appear so.” Louis responded, quietly, with an eye roll.

He heard Harry’s footsteps come closer, and then a warm presence close beside him. Harry was close enough now that when a light breeze passed through the air, Louis could smell him. He could’ve thrown up then and there.   
  
For months after he’d moved, he’d refused to wash any of Harry’s jumpers that he’d kept, until Zayn had thrown them away, just so he could hold on to the smell of it, but now it was like it was taunting him.

“You and Zayn.” Harry mumbled, after a moment, turning his head to face Louis. “Does he make you happy?” He asked, sounding pained.   
  
Louis furrowed his eyebrows, glancing at Harry to find him staring at the floor, his beautiful messy hair all over the place. “He’s my best mate. Of course he does.” Louis answered, confused.   
  
Harry turned to look at him then, a frown on his lips. “You’re not… He’s not your boyfriend?” He asked, pursing his pretty lips.   
  
Louis physically took a step backwards then, in shock. “What?” He’d asked, letting out a short, shocked laugh. “Me and Zayn?” Louis scoffed and shook his head, retaking his position on the balcony. The idea was ridiculous. Louis would have to tell Zayn later, the other boy sure to get a laugh out of it.

 Harry leant next to him, their arms so close they were almost touching. “I just… I thought... The way you guys touch each other… And the way you guys look at each other…” Something that sounded like relief evident in his tone.

“You thought wrong, Harry.” Louis snapped, taking a breath before putting out his fag and turning to face him. “I love Zayn so fucking much, he’s my best friend, and my flatmate and my family, and he’s just as fucked up as I am, and we need each other. Not that it’s _any_ of your concern.” Louis told Harry, unable to stop talking. “But... that’s it. It’s never been more than that.” Louis shook his head and let out a bitter laugh.   
  
“Do you honestly fucking think I got over you that quickly?” He continued, raising his voice, angrily. “Because tell me Harry, please, I’d love to know how you managed to fall out of love with me so fast, because I’m fucking sick of feeling like this all the time.” Louis shouted, throwing his hands up in the air, tears prickling at the corner of his eyes.   
  
Harry stepped forwards, reaching for Louis, opening his mouth to talk. Louis stepped backwards again, cutting him off before he could say a word.   
  
“Were you even in love with me at all?” Louis asked, his voice cracking at the end. “ _How could_ _you_ just end it and not even _care_?!”

Harry stepped backwards like he’d been slapped, his expression aghast. “How can you even think for _one second_ that I don’t love you!?” He shouted, his voice echoing against the brick walls.

Louis stared at him in utter shock, his heart pounding. No. Harry wasn’t in love with him. He’d said so.   
  
“Don’t you dare, Harry.” Louis snapped, his voice low and dangerous, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t you fucking _dare_ come here and say that to me.”

Both boys stopped short when the sound of the balcony door opening again came, Zayn briskly walking to Louis’ side, wrapping a supportive arm around his waist that Louis practically collapsed into.

“You okay?” He whispered, concerned, shooting Harry a glare.   
  
Louis nodded quietly and Zayn stared at him a moment longer before accepting that as an answer and stepping inside, pulling Louis along with him.  
  
Louis turned his head just in time to see Harry sink down to the floor, his head in his hands, Liam kneeling beside him with a hand on his shoulder.

-

Ten minutes later, Zayn and Louis were sitting on his bed, Louis explaining what had happened.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Z. Him being here… I just… Fuck.” Louis mumbled, running a hand through his hair.   
  
Zayn rubbed his back soothingly. “Give me the word and I’ll get rid of them, babe.” He responded, softly.

Louis tilted his head to look at him, a cheeky smile appearing on his lips. “Even Liam?” He asked, teasingly.

“Shut up.” Zayn groaned, shoving Louis’ shoulder with a chuckle, a blush filling his tan cheeks.

“He’s not your type.” Louis told him, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t have a type.” Zayn shot back, earning a snort from Louis. (I _swear_ I wrote this months before ‘No Type’ was released)  
  
“Right.”

“I’ll go show them to my room.” Zayn said, ignoring Louis, standing up and patting his back once more.

“I’ll come with.” Louis told him, jumping up too.  
  
 Zayn raised an eyebrow questioningly but then shrugged and followed Louis out of the room.   
  
They found Liam and Harry sitting on the sofa, both boys glancing up as they entered the room.  
  
“Ready for bed?” Zayn asked, smiling softly at Liam and ignoring Harry. Zayn was nothing if not loyal, Louis thought to himself.

“Yeah.” Liam responded, a shy smile lighting up his own face. Idiots.   
  
He got up, hauling Harry up with him. “You okay, Lou?” Liam asked, looking at Louis’ frowning face.  
  
 Louis wondered how close the two boys had gotten since he’d left, how their dynamic had changed. It was clear that they both leant on each other a lot more than they had before. It reminded him of himself and Zayn. Louis couldn’t help the stab of jealousy that shot through him.

“Yeah, course mate.” Louis said, shooting him a smile.  
  
 Zayn coughed, quietly, and pointed towards his room. “We set up the bed in my room for you. Hope you don’t mind sharing.” Zayn told them, scratching the back of his neck. “Didn’t know there’d be two of you.” He tacked on, a bit of bitterness seeping into his tone.

“Where are you going to sleep?” Harry interjected, quickly.

 Zayn turned to look at him, keeping his face neutral. “Uh, in Lou’s room.” He answered, curtly.

“Oh, don’t be silly!” Liam said, quickly. “We’ll sleep on the sofa; we’re not going to take your bed from you!”   
  
Polite as always, Louis noted.

“It’s fine, I sleep with Louis every night anyway, it’s basically a spare room.” Zayn answered nonchalantly with a shrug.

Both Liam and Harry froze at that, Harry’s head snapping up from where he’d been gazing at his feet.

“What?” He questioned, staring at Zayn with a broken look on his face. Zayn seemed to suddenly realise what had been implicated by his word, his mouth opening slightly as he glanced at Liam.

“Not like that.” Louis rushed to reassure them, desperate to get the heart-breaking look off of Harry’s face.

Harry had to know that Louis had no feelings for Zayn, he had to. “It’s just like, neither of us like to sleep alone, and I have trouble sleeping sometimes so we just end up crashing together most nights, honestly though, it’s just sleeping, nothing else.”   
  
The response seemed to please Liam, though Harry had gone back to staring at the floor, frowning.   
  
There’d been a time when Louis would’ve done anything to make Harry smile. Now; all he could do was watch him looking miserable. It was killing Louis to see.   
  
Louis glanced at the two boys, nothing left to say. He had to get out of there.  
  
 Mumbling a goodnight, he quickly retreated to his room, collapsing onto his bed, exhausted and emotional.

Zayn entered moments later, shutting the door behind him softly. He turned slowly to look at Louis, his voice careful when he spoke. “You alright?”

“No.” Louis whispered, covering his face with his hands. “Not this time.”

The bed shifted slightly when Zayn lay next to Louis, wrapping himself around him and pulling him into his chest. Louis leant into his touch with a sigh, shaking his head.

“I’m still in love with him.” He mumbled after a moment.

“I know.” Zayn answered gently.

“It hurts.”

“I know.”

- 

Waking up, Louis lay there peacefully for a moment before it hit him and he jolted into a sitting position, waking Zayn in the process.

"Lou?" Zayn mumbled, voice filled with sleep.

"Sorry." Louis told him, turning to face him. "I'd just... Harry is here."

Instead of responding, Zayn let out an unhappy grunt and wrapped an arm around Louis' waist, pulling him back down into a laying position.

"Guess we should get up, right? Gotta be polite and all, we’ve got guests." Louis mumbled, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

Zayn simply rolled over with another grunt, which left Louis no choice, really. "I'll show Liam that photo if you don't get up."

"You wouldn't dare." Zayn said, body stiffening.

"Try me." Louis told him, climbing out of the bed and chucking on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie before walking towards the door.

With the sound of Zayn's feet padding softly behind him, (a very smug) Louis walked into the kitchen where he found Liam and Harry sitting at their shitty wobbly table.  
  
 Liam shot them both a grin, and Louis didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered slightly on Zayn's bare chest, before glancing away with a slight blush.  
  
 Louis couldn't blame him; just-woken-up Zayn was ridiculously attractive. In fact, Zayn was ridiculously attractive all the time.

Louis spared a quick glance at Harry, who unlike Liam, stared straight past Zayn to Louis, offering a tentative smile that quickly faded when Louis turned away without returning it.   
  
If holding a grudge was a competition, Louis would definitely be crowned winner.   
  
Grabbing four mugs down from the cupboard on his left, Louis started making tea, ignoring Liam and Zayn's adorably awkward small talk.   
  
He could feel Harry's eyes burning a hole in his back and so when Zayn suddenly sounded, obnoxiously loudly, "I'm going to the toilet. Louis. You need to piss too, right? Come with." his voice tainted with a slight air of panic, Louis was inexplicably relieved at the excuse to escape the room.

Shooting him an odd look, Louis watched as Zayn practically sprinted away from them. He turned to the others, plastering on an awkward smile and refusing to look in Harry’s direction.

"Uh. I'll be right back." He told them, following Zayn and ignoring Liam's questioning, "Do you reckon they always piss together?"

Louis opened the bathroom door and squished himself into the already cramped room, to see Zayn leaning against the shower with a frown on his face. Louis locked the door behind him and raised an eyebrow at Zayn.

"I'm assuming this little meeting wasn’t called for a quickie in the shower? You know Zayn; you’re not really my type."

Zayn let out an amused snort and then his expression sobered. He shook his head. "You didn’t tell me!”

“Tell you what?” Louis questioned, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

“Liam! He just started talking about his ex. _Danielle_.” Zayn told him, his expression bitter, mouth twisting into a scowl at the last word.

Louis couldn’t help but let out a barking laugh before covering his mouth at Zayn's offended expression. "Sorry, sorry.” Louis apologized, still stifling a laugh. “I thought this was something serious.”

“This is serious, Lou! He’s straight?!” Zayn half-spluttered, in disbelief. “And you didn’t tell me! I thought he was flirting with me!”

Louis bit his tongue to hold back a laugh. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Zayn so flustered over a boy, let alone one he’d known for all of one day. It was amusing, to say the least. “I wouldn’t say that he’s straight, per say. I mean, as far as I know, he’s never been with a boy before, him and Dani were together for years,” Louis stopped his rambling at Zayn’s glare.   
  
“Right. Sorry. Liam’s always been curious, you know, I just thought… He practically turns into a tomato every time you look at him, Z. There’s something there, trust me. I thought I’d just let it play out, see what happens.”

“Jesus Christ, Lou. I know I’m hot, but I’m not hot enough to turn a straight person gay.” Zayn responded jokingly, rubbing his tired face with a hand and letting out a small laugh.   
  
Louis put a hand on his shoulder, an amused smile tugging at his lips. When their eyes met, Louis burst out laughing. After a moment, Zayn joined in.

“I’m sorry, really.” Louis told him, after they’d sobered up a little.

“Don’t worry about it, Lou.”

  
  
-  


  
Half an hour later, Louis was dressed and ready for the day.  
  
 He left Zayn to finish doing his hair and walked into the living room, stopping short when he saw Harry standing there, peering at a book that was lying open on the coffee table.   
  
Quickly, before Harry could notice his presence, Louis allowed his eyes to quickly trail up and down Harry’s body.

Jesus Christ.

 He was wearing black jeans that were so tight they looked like they’d been painted on, and the baggy silk shirt he wore was buttoned so low that Louis could see most of his chest. A chest that was now firm and taut and Louis swore he saw some abs which had definitely not been there six months ago. And was that a tattoo he could see?

God, if Louis could pin him against the wall and… No. Stop. He shook the inappropriate thoughts away and swallowed, quickly averting his eyes.

“Did you sleep alright last night?” Harry’s raspy voice interrupted the silence.

Glancing up in shock, Louis cheek’s warmed at being caught staring. He found Harry’s careful eyes watching him, not missing the nervous twitch to his expression.

“Peachy.” Louis replied, a half-hearted attempt at sarcasm. “What about you?” He tacked on, afterwards. Just to be polite though, obviously.

“I couldn’t really fall asleep. I kept waking up.” Harry told him, his eyes not leaving Louis’. I’ll cuddle you until you sleep, Louis had thought, and then mentally slapped himself.

“Oh.” Louis replied, stupidly.

 Just as Harry opened his mouth to respond, there was a banging on the front door. Louis had to step around Harry to get to it, their bodies so close to touching it was almost unbearable. God, Louis wanted to touch him.

Swinging the door open, Louis found a grinning Niall standing there, in what he assumed by his rumpled appearance were last night’s clothes. Niall barged past him and headed straight for the kitchen, calling a greeting over his shoulder.

“Oh, come on in Ni, please. Help yourself.” Louis shouted after him, sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Niall let out a cackle and by his unintelligible response, Louis assumed he had stuffed some food in his mouth.

With a fond smile, Louis shut the door and turned back towards Harry, who was standing there with a cocked eyebrow and a bemused expression on his face.  
  
“So… That’s Niall.” Louis told him, glancing towards his bedroom door and wondering what the hell was taking Zayn so long to get ready.

Harry let out a short, loud laugh that immediately filled Louis with warmth. “He seems… charming.” Harry replied, amused.

Louis let out a laugh before he could stop himself, and the grin that immediately spread onto Harry’s face at the sound of it almost made the pain of knowing that he didn’t want Louis worth it.

 “Understatement.” Louis told him, glancing towards the kitchen, nervously.

At that very moment, Niall walked into the living room with his hand shoved into a packet of crisps.

“I’d starve without you and Z here to look after-“ He started, and then stopped abruptly as he looked up for the first time and spotted Harry standing in the corner.

 Niall’s mouth, full with mushed up crisps, hung open slightly. Louis would’ve laughed had it been a different situation; instead he cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Who’s this?” Niall sounded, his voice remaining light and friendly although his eyes, as far as Louis could tell, were suspicious. Niall knew Liam was due over, but from the tension in the room, Louis was pretty sure he had figured out that this was _not_ Liam. “Where’s Zayn?” He added, glancing towards the closed bedroom door.

When Louis didn’t answer, scrambling for words, Harry stepped forwards and held out his hand, a small, polite smile on his lips. “I’m Harry. Good to meet you, mate.”

Niall made no move to return his handshake, instead staring at Harry’s outstretched hand for several moments in shock, and then back up at his face. Niall’s expression twisted into something unpleasant.

 “What the fuck are you doing here?” He asked maliciously, subconsciously moving towards Louis in a protective manner.

 Louis, who had initially been too shocked at Niall’s reaction to respond, mumbled a quiet, pleading, “Don’t, Ni.”

Louis watched as Harry retracted his hand and let it hang awkwardly by his side, a frown replacing the smile that had previously taken over his lips. “It’s okay, Lou...” He mumbled, letting the old nickname slip out without thought, sending Louis’ heart into frenzy none the less. “I get it. He’s just being a good friend. Looking out for you. So is Zayn. I didn’t expect your friends to like me, I’m sure I haven’t exactly made the best first impression on either of them...” He rambled, sadness lilting his tone.

Louis wanted to reach out and wrap his arms around him and wipe away the miserable expression on his face. Instead though, he simply stared at the floor.

 Niall on the other hand, seemed pleased with this response. “I’m Niall.” He said, carefully, pensively, holding out his hand. “Want a crisp?”

Louis swore the boy had multiple personality disorder.

  
-

  
After the initial awkwardness, Niall was happily chattering away to Harry about god knows what, and Harry was responding enthusiastically, lapping up the attention like a puppy.

Louis couldn’t blame him, dealing with Zayn who had been less than pleasant towards him for the last day and a half; it must’ve been a huge relief for at least one of Louis’ friends to not hate him.

Louis, who was watching Harry and Niall’s exchange with a pleased smile almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I see Harry’s met Niall, then?” Zayn chuckled, raising an eyebrow. “What happened to Niall beating him up if they ever met?”

Louis let out a small laugh and shrugged, looking up at Zayn. “You know Niall. He decided he liked Harry and off he went. He’ll have a new best friend by the end of the night.”

Both boys laughed at that, catching the attention of Harry and Niall.

“Have you been doing your hair this _entire_ time, Z? Who you trying to impress?” Niall asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

At that exact moment Liam entered the room, causing Zayn’s cheek to flame.

“Nobody. Fuck off.” Zayn mumbled, plopping himself down next to Louis.

Louis bit his lip to hold back a snicker, glancing at Harry who was covering his smile with his hand.

“What are you talking about?” Liam asked, oblivious as he sat down beside Zayn, causing him to shift nervously.

“Nothing.” Zayn responded hastily before anyone else could. “Are you ready to go?” He asked, jumping up and heading towards the door. “We’d better get going before… Like… You know. Let’s go.” He rambled, slipping on his shoes.

Louis barely contained his laughter this time, sharing a knowing look with Harry before Louis snapped his gaze away, an unsettling feeling spreading though his body. No. He wasn’t going to let Harry in again. He wasn’t going to let him hurt him.

He patted Liam on the knee before getting up too and following Zayn.

“Where’s everyone going?” Niall complained, pouting at Zayn.

“To see the boys new flat. Want to come?” Zayn responded, cocking an eyebrow.

Louis didn’t even have to look at Niall to know he was nodding in agreement.

“Course, always up for going out.” Niall sounded, enthusiastically. “I’m Niall, by the way.” He directed at Liam, who shook his hand with a warm smile.  
  
“Liam.”

  
-

  
Louis didn’t know how it happened, but he found himself walking the distance to the tube station in between Harry and Liam. Zayn and Niall walked several feet in front of them, Niall’s arm casually slung around Zayn’s shoulder as he chatted his ear off about god knows what.

Louis conversed comfortably with Liam about the best bars and clubs around the area as they walked, pretending not to notice Liam’s pining stare following Zayn’s every move.

The pathway was so narrow that every few seconds Harry’s arm brushed against his own, sending sparks throughout his body each time.  
  
It was the most contact they’d had in six months and it sent his heart racing like he’d never felt before. Why the fuck was this happening?

Harry didn’t love him. He’d told him so.

Louis made sure not to walk too closely to him for the rest of the day.

  
  
-

  
  
The boys made it to the Liam and Harry’s new flat just over thirty minutes later, and after quickly looking around (not that there was much to look at, it was a simple, small flat for two university students on a budget), they had ended up in a pub for lunch.  
  
 Niall, who had claimed the seat beside Zayn without thought had effectively left Louis with no choice. The only empty seat left was next to Harry.   
  
Putting his best game face on, Louis took the seat and immediately immersed himself into conversation with Liam, who was seated across from him. He could feel Harry’s eyes on him; feel Harry’s leg pressed up unnecessarily against his own. It was driving him fucking crazy. How could Harry just sit there like that? Did he not feel _anything_? Because it seemed to Louis that being within any vicinity of Harry, all he could think about was grabbing him and kissing him.

Louis focused on eating the sandwich he’d ordered. Bite, chew, and swallow. He repeated the motion silently, not looking up from his food, trying to block out the fact that his heart was beating so loudly that he was pretty sure someone on the other side of the room could hear it if they listened closely enough.

He only tuned into the conversation when he heard his name called, his head quickly turning in Zayn’s direction at the sound of his voice.

“Huh?” Louis questioned. Zayn rolled his eyes and laughed, repeating himself.

“I was just telling the boys about that sick new club down the road from ours, you up for that tonight?”

“Yeah, whatever.” Louis mumbled, absentmindedly. He ignored the look that Zayn shot him, instead letting his eyes fall back towards the table.  
  
When he felt Harry’s leg softly nudge his own, he almost jumped out of his skin.

“You okay?” Harry’s deep, concerned voice sounded quietly, too quietly for the others to hear.

Louis made the mistake of turning his head to look up at Harry.

Their faces were so close together that if Louis moved forward a few inches, their lips would be touching. Both boys seemed to notice their proximity at the same time, but neither moved.

Instead, they both froze. It felt like time was standing still. Being so close to Harry was so familiar, but so strange. Not being able to lean forward and press his lips to Harry’s was _so_ strange. It was almost as if Harry was trying to taunt him. _I’m here, looking at you like this, but you can’t have me._

It’s been months and Louis believed that he had finally managed to piece himself back together only to have Harry rub it in his face that he’s still not over him, maybe never will be.

Looking into Harry’s eyes, the eyes he’d been dreaming about for months, sent his blood pumping hard. To Louis, Harry’s eyes were like a drug, and oh god, he was addicted.

 Someone let out a quiet cough and Louis noticed how silent it had gotten at their table. He dragged his eyes away from Harry to find the other three staring at them in silence. It was like an ice cold bucket of water had been thrown on him.

 Instinctively, he jumped up from his seat and away from Harry, ignoring the flash of hurt that flickered over the other boys’ face.   
  
Ignoring the painful clench at his heart, he opened his mouth to respond, quietly. “No.”

Truth be told, he wasn’t okay. Not even in the slightest.

With that, Louis turned around and briskly walked out of the pub, ignoring the shouts of his name from behind him.

Harry had been here for _one_ day. _One fucking day_ and he’d already managed to crush all of the progress that Louis had made to get over him during the past six months. What was he trying to do? Because Louis didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

He didn’t go home that night.

Chapter Management

-

Louis’ phone was dead. His stomach was rumbling, and his eyes barely staying open.

 Oh, not to mention that was so cold he could barely move.  
  
 Begrudgingly, he headed home. He’d been walking for hours, but he was fairly certain that if he just took a couple more lefts, the road leading up to his flat would appear.  
  
His phone had died a couple of hours ago, not that it had made much of a difference to Louis. He’d switched it onto silent and hadn’t spared it a glance since he’d walked out.  
  
He’d thought that spending some time alone would clear his head; but unfortunately, nothing ever came easily to Louis. He was still just as confused and upset as he had been since the moment Harry had appeared on his doorstep.  
  
Speaking of doorsteps, Louis climbed the steps of his flat and quietly slid his key into the lock, shoving the door open as quietly as possible. He hadn’t known quite what to expect coming home, to be honest, but four pairs of eyes, (well, three technically, Niall was snoring on the sofa) staring at him with mixed expressions of relief, exhaustion, and stress just about summed it up.   
  
Ignoring everyone, Louis brushed past Zayn, not daring to glance in Harry’s direction, and walked straight to his room, closing the door behind him. When he heard the door open and close a few moments later, he didn’t even have to turn to know who it was.  
  
“Lou...” Zayn murmured, softly, a cautious edge to his voice.  
  
“Don’t.” Louis snapped. He loved Zayn to death but he was barely keeping it together right now.  
  
“I wasn’t going to say anything!” Zayn responded defensively, raising his hands up.  
  
Louis didn’t even have it in him to force a smile onto his face.  
  
“I’m sorry.”  
  
“Don’t be.” Zayn murmured, pulling the smaller boy into a hug.  
  
Louis breathed in his scent and let himself sink into Zayn’s embrace, sucking up as much of Zayn’s warmth as he could.  
  
“We all need a little time to ourselves every now and then.” Zayn whispered, reassuringly into Louis’ ear.

“Next time, give us a warning though.” He scolded, prodding Louis’ side playfully, causing Louis to squirm. “I thought Harry was going to have a heart attack when you didn’t come home after a few hours. Jesus Christ, that boy can panic!”  
  
Zayn stopped talking when he felt Louis tense up in his arms. “Sorry.” Zayn muttered, sheepishly. “I know you don’t like it when I talk about him.”  
  
Louis let out a laugh that he hoped didn’t sound too much like a cry, and let go of Zayn to pull on some joggers and a t-shirt that he was fairly certain belonged to Niall. “Gonna have to get used to it, I suppose? Doesn’t look like we’re going to be getting rid of Liam anytime soon, and judging by what I can see, they’re sort of a package deal.”  
  
Zayn’s expression sobered slightly, as he came to stand behind Louis, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it gently. “You know, Lou, Liam’s great, but you come first. Always. I’d happily never see him again a day in my life if it meant Harry not being in yours.”

Zayn was never one for deep conversations, so Louis knew how much it meant to hear something like that come out of Zayn’s mouth.  
  
“Well, not  _happily_ , but you know, I’d do it, for you.” Zayn tacked on, causing Louis to snort and embrace him in a hug.  
  
“We’re turning into a pair of soppy cunts, you know that?” Louis told him, chortling out a laugh.

  
Zayn let out a grunt of agreement, and pulled back from the hug, looking Louis once over, as if checking for injuries.  
  
“In all seriousness though, Lou, never do that again.” He scolded, once he’d affirmed that Louis was unscathed.  
  
With a nod and a small smile from Louis, Zayn ruffled his hair and walked away to climb into bed, patting the spot next to him.

-

It felt like Louis had been lying there awake for hours by the time he decided to get up to get a drink.   
  
Pressing a kiss to Zayn’s temple, he unwound Zayn’s limbs from his and carefully climbed out of their bed, making sure to make as little noise as possible.   
Not that there was any need, really, Zayn wouldn’t wake up if a fire engine crashed through their wall and into the bed.

Stepping into the chilly hallway, Louis made his way into the kitchen, freezing when he saw a dark figure sitting on the sofa.  
  
He immediately knew it was Harry.   
  
His head snapped up at the sound of Louis’ feet padding into the room, and he immediately stood up.  
  
“Sorry, I didn’t wake you did I?” Harry rushed to ask, his low voice and timid. “It’s just, I couldn’t sleep, so thought I’d come out here. Didn’t want to disturb Liam with all my fidgeting...” He mumbled, stepping towards Louis.  
  
“You didn’t wake me.” Louis whispered back, equally as softly.  
  
“Oh.” Harry’s response came quietly. He paused. “I was worried about you today.”  
  
“You were?” Louis couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice; causing Harry’s forehead to crease in that frustrated way that Louis hated seeing.

“Of course I was, Lou.” He mumbled, running a hand through his hair. Louis followed his movements with his eyes, unable to look away.  
  
When Louis didn’t respond, the two boys stared at each other in silence for several moments, neither boy daring to look away, neither wanting to.  
  
“I miss you, boo.” Louis heard Harry whisper suddenly, his voice sounding so sincere and so loving that Louis’ body immediately seized up.  
  
“Harry...” Louis voice warned him, his heart beginning to hammer in his chest. He couldn’t take this again. He couldn’t have Harry say that and then just break his heart all over again when it turned out he didn’t mean it.  
  
“I miss you so fucking much it hurts and I don’t know what to do-“  
  
“Stop it.” Louis snapped, spinning around to stare at him, a sudden burning anger coursing through him. “You don’t get to fucking say that, Harry.”  
  
“Lou-“  
  
“No, Harry. Let me finish.” He said firmly, finally gaining enough confidence to look him in the eye through the dimly lit room. “ _You_ left  _me_ , Harry. _You_  chose to end it.  _You_ ignored all my calls and texts.  _You_ broke  _me._ So don’t you dare tell me that you miss me, not after everything that _you_ did.”   
  
The look on Harry’s face that followed almost made Louis want to retract everything he’d just said and pull him into his arms and kiss away all the little frown lines covering his face.    
  
“Please Lou; just let me-“  
  
Louis shook his head furiously and stood up, beginning to pace the room quickly, feeling Harry’s gaze following him.  
  
“What’s there to say, Harry? That you’re sorry? That you didn’t mean to hurt me? You let me believe for  _years_  that you were in love with me, and then you just fucking broke  _everything_  in one phone call!” Louis shouted, not even bothering to try and keep quiet anymore, throwing his hands up in the air and pretending not to notice Harry’s flinch.  
  
 “A fucking phone call, Harry! Is that how much our relationship meant to you? So much that you ended it over a phone call?!” He continued, his voice cracking.

 

“Don’t you dare say that.” Harry snapped, stepping towards Louis. “Our relationship was _everything_ to me, Lou, you know-“

 

 “It’s been almost  _half a year._   _Half_ a fucking  _year_  and I still can’t get over you.” Louis interrupted him, silencing Harry. “Half a year and I’m still _so_ in love with you.” Louis let the words spill out of his mouth without a second thought, never succeeding at holding his tongue.   
  
Harry stared at him in a stunned silence, his eyes wide and shocked and wet, his mouth opening to speak.

 

Louis wasn’t done. “How could you, Harry? Why? Just tell me _why,_ please. I need to know what made you stop loving me.” His voice was desperate and pleading and croaky but it was four in the morning and he didn’t have the strength in him to care anymore.   
  
Harry stepped towards Louis with his arms out, tears spilling out of his eyes, as he shook his head frantically. “Lou… I… I wasn’t…”  
  
“You know, some nights I’d lie in bed and wish I’d never met you.” Louis interrupted Harry again, not daring to look in his direction for fear of collapsing and running into his arms. “I’d probably still be stuck in shitty old Donny and still be hiding in the closet. I’d probably still be at uni there studying a degree that I didn’t even like. I’d probably have ended up settling down, marry a nice girl like Hannah, and never have been as happy, as in love, as I was when I was with you. But you know what, Harry?” He asked patronisingly, not pausing to give Harry any time to answer.  
  
“Some nights I would give everything to not feel like _this_ anymore.” He whispered, finally standing still, turning to face Harry once more.

 

He’d never seen Harry look so upset, so utterly defeated, and a small part of Louis was relishing at the thought that his words were finally causing Harry some of the pain that he’d been feeling over the past few months.

“Why did you come here, Harry? I can’t fucking take this.” Louis mumbled, finally, letting his eyes drift to the floor. He felt defeated, for lack of better word.  
  
All the anger and pain he’d been holding inside of him, he’d finally let out. He’d been expecting to feel relieved, to feel better in some way, but surprise, surprise. Louis still felt like complete and utter shit.  
  
“Lou…” Harry whispered his voice so full of anguish that Louis almost broke down.  
  
Refusing to look at him, Louis took a deep breath, nodded in Harry’s vague direction and murmured a soft,  
  
“Goodnight, Harry.”

With that, he turned, walked into his bedroom, and closed the door firmly behind him, not sparing Harry a second glance. It took all of three seconds before his legs gave out beneath him and he collapsed onto the floor in a flood of tears.

When Zayn’s warm arms embraced him, soft reassuring words encircling him, Louis didn’t even have it in him to feel guilty for wishing they were Harry’s.

 


	2. Chapter 2 - Alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second part to the story! Sorry the ending was a bit rushed, I didn't want this fic to be overly long and I'd already written far more than I'd planned to! Let me know what you think! xx

-

Breakfast was quiet, to say the least. Harry refused to look up from his cereal, Zayn could barely keep his eyes open, and Liam didn’t appear to be much better off. It seemed that Zayn wasn’t alone in having had to stay up practically all night to comfort someone. 

Nobody spoke a word about it, but Louis wasn’t an idiot. He knew that last night’s conversation between him and Harry was no secret to the other two boys. The neighbours had probably heard their shouting, if he was being honest.

There seemed to be a thick blanket of tension covering the room, which was heightening with every passing second.  
  
“So,” Louis was the first to break the impending silence, causing all eyes to flicker in his direction. “What’s on the agenda for today, then?”

Stunned, Liam seemed to blink several times before sending Louis a blinding smile. “I was thinking, we could go see some of the sights? London eye, Big Ben?”  
  
Liam seemed so enthusiastic and utterly excited that Louis couldn’t bring himself to say no.

Instead, he let out a laugh. “You haven’t changed, Li.”  
  
Liam stuck his tongue out in response. “Is that a yes?”  
  
Louis looked to Zayn, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ve got an afternoon shift at the pub.” Zayn told them, looking slightly disappointed, which Louis knew was due to the fact that he wanted to spend more time with Liam.

 Let’s be honest, when had Zayn ever given a shit about tourist-y things? He was worse than Louis, in that aspect.  
  
Liam, who himself looked slightly dejected, turned to face Louis again. “We can still go though, can’t we?”

Louis made the mistake of glancing at Harry, who had stopped eating, but was still staring pointedly at the table, his unruly hair covering his face so Louis was unable to see his expression. Louis hated Harry’s hair in that instance.  
  
Louis glanced at Liam then back at Harry again, pointedly.  
  
Letting out a sigh, Liam rolled his eyes and spoke, “Harry?”  
  
Raising his head slightly, Harry hummed quietly in response.  
  
“You up for going out? See the sights?” Liam asked, smiling encouragingly.

Harry looked up for the first time since Louis had entered the room, and glanced at Liam.

“I don’t want to intrude…” He began to mumble, his voice dejected.

“It’s fine.” Louis quipped, quietly, clenching his spoon tightly in his hand as soon as the words had slipped out.

 Harry’s eyes flickered to Louis, stunned. Louis looked away quickly.

“Sounds good, then.” Harry murmured after another tense pause.

“Cool. Let’s go get ready then!” Liam responded enthusiastically, clapping Louis on the back as he walked past.

Louis followed him out without a second glance.

-

"Lou?" Zayn had asked while Louis was pulling a shirt over his head. 

 

Louis looked up in response, raising an eyebrow. 

 

"Don't be too hard on him." The raven haired boy told him, as he tied his shoelaces. "Harry, I mean." He tacked on as if it wasn't already obvious. 

 

"Since when do you care about Harry's feelings?" Louis responded, unable to keep the edge of betrayal out of his voice. 

 

Zayn looked up at that, a frown taking over his face. "Don't, Lou. You know I'm on your side here. It's just... You've got to see how much this is hurting him, don't you?" 

 

Louis' fist clenched at that. "How much it's hurting _him_? What about _me_? This is killing me, Zayn."

 

"Look, I know it’s hard Lou, I can see that, trust me, why don't you just try to-"

 

"Stop." Louis snapped, harsher than he'd intended. "Unless you've had your heart completely crushed by someone who is now currently residing with you, then don't you dare try and give me advice." 

 

Silence filled the room, the air tense, both boys staring at each other with slightly laboured breath. 

 

"Sorry." Louis mumbled after a few moments, looking down. 

 

"I love you, Louis. Don't take this out on me." Zayn walked up to Louis and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I'm only trying to help." 

 

"I know." Louis sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry."

 

"Stop saying sorry." Zayn let out a chuckle. 

 

"Sorry. Fuck!" Louis answered, letting out a laugh. 

 

The boy’s eyes connected and then they were both laughing. 

 

"You sure you'll be okay today? I can cancel my shift, or you could come in with me..." Zayn trailed off, once their laughing had died down. 

 

"No, no, it'll be fine. I'll be fine." 

 

Zayn raised a questioning eyebrow but nodded as he finished getting ready. "You trying to convince me, or you?"

 

"Shut up." 

 

-

 

Zayn had left the flat about twenty minutes ago, with the promise to return home tonight with pizza and beers, and Louis was currently leaning out the window, smoking a fag. 

 

Hearing footsteps behind him, he twisted his head around and came face to face, or face to chest, to be exact, with a very shirtless and very attractive Harry.

  
Fuck, when had Harry gotten so.... muscular? And where had all those tattoos come from? Louis swallowed harshly before looking up to Harry’s face, hoping his expression wasn’t conveying anything that he was feeling.  

 

"Sorry." Harry mumbled, his eyes flickering all over Louis' face. "I didn't know you'd be here." His voice sounded so uncertain and nervous, that all the anger Louis had been holding against him from last night melted away. 

 

Taking Zayn’s words into account, Louis allowed himself to chuckle, quietly.

 

"No, it's fine. Don't worry. Nothing I haven't seen before, right?" Louis made a half-hearted attempt at a joke, immediately scolding himself for his big mouth. 

 

"Right." Harry answered after a pause, a small smile tugging at his lips. 

 

A few moments passed in silence.

"You look.... Good." Louis told him, unable to stop himself, nodding towards Harry's bare chest. 

 

Harry's answering smile was blinding and Louis wondered how he'd ever thought he could get over him. "I do?" 

 

"Yeah, Haz. You do." The nickname slipped out before he could stop himself, and he pretended not to notice Harry freeze in response. 

 

Instead, he focused on the cigarette in his hand, taking another puff. 

 

“When did you start smoking?” Harry asked him, his voice more curious than accusing, coming to lean against the window beside Louis.

 

“After about a week of living with Zayn. Smokes like a chimney, that boy.” Louis answered, snorting.

 

Harry mimicked his laughter, and ran a hand through his hair, an action Louis couldn’t help but follow with his eyes.

 

“You two are really close, huh?” Harry asked, his voice riddled with a sadness that Louis couldn’t quite place.

 

“He’s my best friend in the whole world.” Louis told him, with complete honestly.

  
Harry tried not to feel jealous, tried not to feel sad, at Louis’ answer, but he couldn’t help himself. There’d been a time where he and Liam had been able to read Louis like a book.

Now though, it seemed that position lay in the hands of Zayn and Niall. And it was different; too, Harry found out the more he witnessed it.

Louis’ friendship with Zayn was on a complete other level of closeness. Louis leaned on Zayn for support in a way that Harry had never witnessed. As much as he was happy that Louis had found new friends, it _hurt_ Harry to know that Louis had found better friends that him and Liam.

“I’m happy you’ve found him, then.” Harry answered instead, forcing a smile onto his face.

 

                                                                           -

 

Several hours later, Louis, Harry, and Liam were back at the flat, having run home from the tube station in the pouring rain, giggling the entire way despite themselves.

 

Louis had immediately tugged off his wet shirt and jeans, slinging them onto the floor as he wandered over to the bathroom to grab some towels. When he returned, Harry had not moved from his spot near the sofa. His eyes were trained on Louis’ almost naked body, a smouldering look in his eyes.

 

A faint blush seeping into his cheeks, he chucked a towel at Harry before handing one to Liam, who immediately wrapped it around himself, shivering.

  
“You guys can dump your clothes in the bathroom. I’ll get them cleaned for you later.” Louis told them, trying his hardest not to look over at Harry, who from the sounds of it, was stripping off right next to him.

 

Instead, he walked into the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, “You guys want some tea?”

 

-

 

He wasn’t doing it on purpose, really. It just seemed that wherever Harry went, Louis ended up near him, and vice versa.

 

Liam had gone to shower, and Harry and Louis were standing hip to hip in the kitchen, attempting to make popcorn.

 

“Lou, it said _three_ minutes. Not seven." Harry teased, a playful lilt to his voice as the two boys stared into the pan of blackened popcorn.

 

“I told you to pay attention!” Louis snapped back, a smile on his lips betraying his intended tone of voice.

 

“I thought you had it under control!” Harry retorted, a chuckle following his words.

 

Louis stuck his tongue out up at Harry, earning a breath-taking laugh in response.

 

“How old are you?” Harry asked, cocking an eyebrow as he lifted up the pan and moved to tip it in the bin.

 

“Older than you, curly. You should be treating me with respect.”

 

“Oh, do excuse me, Mr Tomlinson.” Harry spoke in his poshest, most ridiculous accent, bowing down in front of Louis, earning an unattractive snort in response from him.

 

“You look silly.” Louis told him, walking into the living room.

 

He could hear Harry’s socked feet padding softly behind him. “What? These old trackies not doing it for you?”

 

Louis rolled his eyes, glancing back at Harry whose long damp hair was half plastered to his face, half sticking up. “Baby Tarzan.” He mumbled, a grin on his lips.

 

The sound of the front door creaking upon broke the pair out of their discussion. Looking up, Louis’ eyes meet Zayn, both boys immediately smiling.

 

“Honey, I’m home!” Zayn sung obnoxiously as he placed the pizza boxes on the table next to him and jogged over to give Louis a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

 

Noting the relaxed atmosphere, he turned and gave Harry a nod and an almost civil smile. At least that was improving.

  
“How was work?” Louis asked, as Harry mumbled a greeting.

 

“Good. Missed you, though.” Zayn said, waggling his eyebrows.

 

Louis grinned and ruffled Zayn’s hair, embracing him in a cuddle, interrupted when Harry let out an uncomfortable cough that had Zayn rolling his eyes.

 

“Where’s Liam?”

“Shower. He’ll be out soon. We all got rained on so he’s warming up.”

 

“Is that why Harry looks like a drowned Tarzan?”

 

“Hey!” Harry exclaimed at the same time that Louis shouted, delighted, “That’s what I said!”

 

Chuckling, Zayn shot Harry an amused look before walking towards Louis’ bedroom, calling out a “Gonna get changed. I’ll be back in a sec.”

 

When the door shut, Louis plopped down onto the sofa, bouncing slightly when Harry followed suite.

 

“Do you think he’ll ever forgive me for hurting you?” Harry asked, his voice soft and concerned, an extreme change from the playful atmosphere that had filled the room not five seconds ago.

 

A frown spread over Louis’ lips as he looked up at Harry, meeting his eyes.

 

“Do you think you’ll ever forgive me for hurting you?” Harry asked, not giving Louis a chance to answer.

 

Louis looked away then, twisting his hands in his lap. “Harry…” He whispered, a lump filling his throat.

 

“I never meant to hurt you, Louis. I just… You need to give me a chance to explain.”

 

Louis scoffed at that, sitting up and distancing himself from Harry. “I don’t think we should talk about this right now.”

 

“I can’t just sit here with you and pretend like everything is normal and alright and that nothing has changed, Louis. We need to talk about this.”

 

“You had your fucking chance to talk, Harry. Six months of it. You know how many times I texted you, rang you, left you voicemails. You never even called, Harry.”

 

Harry looked down, the room filling with silence. “I didn’t know what to say to you.” He whispered, finally.

 

Louis stared at him, heart beating rapidly in his chest, waiting for Harry to continue.

 

“I lied, Louis.”

 

Louis’ eyebrows furrowed. “Lied about what?” He asked, following Harry’s movements with his eyes.

 

Harry looked up from where he’d been staring at the floor, angling his body towards Louis.

 

Louis watched in a tense silence as Harry’s eyes flickered across his face, gaging Louis’ reaction.

 

“On the phone that day.” Harry continued slowly, his voice quiet, his eyes sincere, and earnest. “I told you I wasn’t in love with you anymore. It was a lie.”

 

Louis froze, bracing his body as if for impact. He shook his head slowly, trying to take in what Harry had said. “I… No. Don’t mess around with my head, Harry.” He whispered.

 

Harry leant forward, softly placing a warm hand on Louis’ shoulder and shaking it carefully, trying to get rid of his rigid posture.

 

Harry continued to speak, the same sad tone carrying throughout. “Knowing that you’d believed me, Louis…” He paused, wincing. “It was heart breaking.”

 

Louis shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “What are you saying?” He asked, frustrated. “This doesn’t make sense. Why would you lie about _that_?” Sadness and anger infiltrated his speech.

 

Harry looked away, his shoulders hunched. “I was holding you back, Lou. Everyone knew it. At least, that’s what everyone was telling me…”

 

Louis frowned immediately, shaking his head furiously even though he knew that Harry couldn’t see him. “You were _not-_ “

 

“You’d gone off to university, and I was just some stupid teenager stuck in sixth form back in your shitty little home town. You had dreams. I thought you deserved better. I still do.” His words were incomprehensible, impossible.

Louis shook his head, utter shock and horror filling his body. “That wasn’t your choice to make, Harry.” He snapped, exasperated. “You were my dream. I would’ve given up everything to be with you, to make you happy!”

“That’s exactly what I didn’t want you to do!” Harry countered, throwing his hands up in the air.

Louis clenched and unclenched his fists several times, swallowing down the lump in his throat. He felt sick. Tears welled up in his eyes, slowly beginning to fall.  
  
He’d thought Harry had a valid reason for wanting to end things between them, that he’d been unhappy, or, god forbid, found someone else. He never would’ve imagined that Harry had called everything off for Louis’ sake.

After a moment’s pause, Louis looked up slowly, meeting Harry’s gaze. “Look at me, Haz.” He gestured to his face, his hair, his body. “Do you honestly think I’ve been happy? That I’ve been following _my dreams_?”

Harry gulped, his saddened eyes turning to face the floor. “I thought you’d have moved on.”

Louis shook his head in disbelief. “Harry, listen to me.” He watched as Harry turned to look at him, and then continued. “I don’t regret moving here for a second; it got me Zayn, and Niall. But we could’ve been happy. We could’ve spent the last six months together happy and in love, and we’ve missed that. And for what?”

Harry scooted closer to Louis, hesitating before reaching and taking Louis’ hand in his larger, warmer one. Louis’ breath hitched. The familiarity of holding Harry’s hand hit him like a ton of bricks. He never wanted to let go.

“I’m still in love with you, Louis. I always have been.”

Ignoring the surge of happiness that exploded within him, Louis shook his head, tears still oozing from his eyes.

Harry let out a hard, frustrated laugh. “Don’t shake your head. You _have_ to believe me Lou, I need you to know how much I still love you.”

Louis felt Harry’s hand tighten around his, and looked up into his soft, burning eyes. “Why did you do this to me, Harry?” He asked, his voice breaking with a sob. Pathetic wasn’t even enough to describe how he was feeling right now.

“Hey, hey.” Harry murmured, moving to pull Louis’ body into his, his arms wrapping around every part of Louis tightly, as if he was holding him together.

Louis closed his eyes, his body shaking, letting himself breath in Harry’s familiar scent that he loved so much. Louis had lost Harry once, and if he was going to disappear again, Louis was going to lap up every single second of his presence that he possible could. He let himself relax in Harry’s arms, calming down slowly as Harry ran a hand softly over his hair.

 

“I’m so sorry, Lou. So so sorry.” Harry repeated incessantly, pressing kisses into Louis hair. “Coming here, I decided I was going to be selfish.” He started to talk, softly.

“Selfish?” Louis asked quietly, tilting his head upwards to meet Harry’s eyes.

“I don’t want to live without you, anymore.” He murmured, staring straight at Louis. “So, whether you want me here as a friend, or as more. I’ll be here. I’m here. I’ll wait for you, Louis.”

Louis’ heart started to pound as he gazed at Harry. He looked so sincere, so determined and so full of love that Louis could’ve burst into tears all over again.

When Louis took too long to reply, Harry continued. “I need you to tell me if it’s too late. Have I hurt you too much?” He asked, his voice filled with concern to match his expression.

Louis couldn’t help the eye roll. “Are you an idiot?”

Harry frowned. “Can you just answer me, Louis? Without insulting my intelligence.” He attempted to sound stern but a hint of a smile was playing on his lips.

Louis let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding, turning his head to gaze at the wall. “I need you to know, Harry, that I’ve got nothing left for you to break.”

He refused to look at Harry, but heard the soft intake of breath and felt the way that his muscles clenched around him.

“But every single inch of me that I have left… It belongs to you.”

Before Harry had the chance to respond, a door was opening and Zayn was walking into the room, changed into a pair of tracksuit bottom and a baggy t-shirt. Louis froze as Zayn looked up at them, watched with bated breath as Zayn stopped still and stared.

The room was silent, tense, only broken when Liam exited his room, walking into the living room, surveying the scene, and immediately breaking out into an exhilarated grin. He bounded over and pounced on top of the pair curled up on the sofa, a play fight and giggles breaking out around Louis.

Louis wasn’t laughing, though. His attention was on Zayn, who still hadn’t moved. When their eyes met, Zayn shook his head once and stalked into the kitchen, a frown on his lips.

He wasn’t happy.

-

Zayn had been especially quiet all night, even ignoring Liam’s attempts to engage him in conversation.

Louis had attempted to catch his eyes several times, but the raven haired beauty seemed set on avoiding his gaze. He didn’t look over to where Harry and Louis were sitting at all, really, quite the opposite of Liam who was practically staring at the pair’s tangled up limbs with bulging eyes and a shit eating grin.

Louis wanted to relax, wanted to be able to enjoy lying in Harry’s arms, and wanted to focus on the way that Harry’s nose was softly nuzzling his neck. But he couldn’t, not knowing that his best friend was mad at him.

“Talk to Zayn, Lou.” Harry whispered into Louis’ ear, after Louis had blatantly been staring at the other boy for a solid half hour, his posture tense. Louis shot him a grateful smile before standing up, picking up the empty pizza boxes on the floor and frowning at Zayn, who didn’t even look up from his phone.

“Zayn.” Louis spoke, calmly and confidently. “Will you help me with these boxes?”

Zayn didn’t stir. “There are only three boxes, Louis. You can handle that.”

Louis let out a frustrated sigh, narrowing his eyes at the stubborn boy. “Zayn.” He snapped.

Louis watched Zayn roll his eyes slowly before got up, grabbing a pizza box and stalking towards the kitchen, still keeping his essence of cool.

Louis followed him quickly; making sure that the kitchen door was firmly shut before he began to speak. “Zayn-“

“What are you doing?” Zayn hissed, throwing his arms up in the air before Louis could finish.

Louis sighed, guilt rushing over him as he looked down at the floor. He knew exactly why Zayn was mad.

“You’re gonna let him back in, just like that? After everything he’s put you through?”

“You told me to give him a chance, Zayn-“ Louis began, exasperated, until Zayn cut him off again.

“Yeah, not to get back together with him! What if he fucks you over again, Louis? How are you going to handle that, huh?” He was shouting now, making Louis flinch.

“He’s not going to Zayn. Look, he’s explained-“

The kitchen door swung open, and a frowning Harry stepped into the room. Zayn’s expression soured immediately.

“Can I talk to Zayn for a moment, Louis?” Harry asked politely, gazing at Louis softly.

Louis’ expression warmed. He glanced at Zayn quickly, trying to deduce whether Zayn would stab Harry if he left the two of them alone, before shooting Zayn a warning look and exiting the room.

Silence followed him.

“Zayn, I know you don’t like me, and-“ Harry began shakily, but Zayn shook his head, silencing him.

“I won’t let you suck him back in and hurt him again, Harry.” Zayn said, his voice calm but his eyes burning.

Harry sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. “I won’t hurt him, Zayn. I love him, he’s everything to me. You’re his best friend; I need you to trust me.”

Losing his cool, Zayn slammed his fist down on the countertop, making Harry jump.

“I can’t!” Zayn yelled, in desperation. “You didn’t see how broken he was, Harry. _I_ was the one who had to pick up the pieces. _I_ was the one who had to listen to him crying, night after night. _I_ was the one who had to watch him lose more and more weight. It wasn’t a fucking holiday over here, either. Sorry for wanting to make sure you’re a good guy before I let you near _my_ best friend again.”

 

 

Several moments of shocked silence followed, Harry swallowing a mouthful of guilt.

“Zayn.” Harry murmured, his eyes on the other boy, pleading with him. “What I did to Louis, I’ll never forgive myself for that. But it won’t happen again, I swear it. I was young, and an idiot. I thought it was what was best for him, but I know better now. Please, believe me.”

 

Zayn watched Harry in a contemplating silence. He let out a long, quiet sigh and rubbed his face tiredly. “I’m sorry. Just, seeing him forgive you so quickly, seeing him all over you again as if nothing has happened, it worries me. I don’t want to have to see him so heartbroken again if you leave.”

 

“I won’t leave.” Harry insisted, determined. “I’ll spend the rest of forever proving that to you, if that’s what it takes.”

 

Zayn let out a small laugh. “You’re exactly what I imagined you to be. Do you know how hard it is to hate you?”

 

Harry grinned, relief flooding through him. “Does that mean we’re cool?”

 

“I still don’t trust you, Styles. But I’m willing to give it a shot if Louis is.”

 

Harry’s grin spread wider, and he opened his arms towards Zayn cheekily.

  
Zayn rolled his eyes and embraced Harry in a short hug, squeezing him lightly before pulling him away. “I’m sorry for being such a dick to you over the past couple of days.”

 

-

 

When Zayn entered their room a while later, looking marginally happier than he had before, Louis cocked an eyebrow at him from his position on the bed.

 

“I still don’t like this.” Zayn said, narrowing his eyes playfully.

“You’re the bestest, Zaynie.” Louis sang, with a smirk.

“Don’t call me that.” Zayn snapped, diving at Louis and pulling him into a wrestling match.

The two boys fought playfully, Zayn managing to pin Louis down beneath him, both boys breathless and giggling.

They locked eyes as the room grew silent, Zayn reaching up to brush a hand across Louis’ cheek.

Louis closed his eyes, letting Zayn’s warm breath fan across his face. “Have you ever thought about how simple it would’ve been? You know, you and me?”

Zayn was silent for a moment before he spoke, softly. “All the time, yeah.”

“It’d be so easy. We’d just… work.” Louis continued quietly, blinking his eyes open to look into Zayn’s.

Zayn nodded, a half arsed smile slipping onto his lips. “But it wouldn’t be enough.”

“I wish it was enough.” Louis mumbled, closing his eyes again as Zayn held their faces pressed tightly together.

 

“I know.” Zayn mumbled, rolling off of Louis and laying by his side, facing the ceiling. “We both deserve more than that, though. Love shouldn’t be simple; it shouldn’t be staying with someone because it’s easy, or because it works. It’s supposed to be tough and painful and exciting and passionate.”

 

Zayn paused, turning his head to look at Louis. “You’ve got that with Harry.”

 

Louis stared at his best friend, reaching out to grab Zayn’s hand. “Do you think you could have that with Liam?”

 

A blush coloured Zayn’s tan cheeks. “Who knows?”

  
It was silent in the room for several moments before Louis started to speak again. “I think he really loves me.”

Zayn smiled, squeezing Louis’ hand.  “I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life, Lou.”

-

Things felt brighter the following day, for lack of better word.  Louis woke up with a smile on his lips for the first time in forever, quietly getting dressed and slipping out of the room without waking Zayn.

He’d been about to slip out the front door when a sleepy Harry stumbled into the living room, rubbing his eyes.

Louis almost cooed at the sight of him.

“Where are you going?” The younger boy croaked out, his arms reaching towards Louis.

Louis let out a chuckle, letting Harry’s arms slip around him and breathing in his scent before leaning upwards to peck his cheek, softly. “I’ve got work, Haz.” He told a stunned looking Harry.

Harry pouted, holding Louis tighter. “Don’t go.”

Louis brushed a hand across Harry’s cheeks, relishing in being able to feel the other boy’s skin again, watching as a dimple appeared.

“I’ll be back in a few hours.” He said softly, untangling himself from Harry and slipping his shoes on.

Harry leant against the wall, a cheeky grin on his face. “I’ll be waiting.”

Louis rolled his eyes fondly, straightening up and opening the door. He was about to leave when a warm hand reached out to grab his wrist. Louis looked up in surprise, meeting Harry’s eyes that had suddenly turned serious.

“I mean it, Lou. I’ll always wait for you.”

Louis stared at Harry for several moments in silence, and then let a small smile fall onto his lips. He didn’t say anything in response, but he didn’t really need to.

                                                                           -                

Louis’ phone buzzed just as he was leaving work that afternoon. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced briefly at the name on the screen before swiping answer and holding it up to his ear.

“Zayn?” Louis asked, curiosity filling his tone. Zayn never called Louis on afternoons when he was working, so Louis figured it must be something important.

“You and Harry need to fuck off somewhere tonight.” Zayn hissed in a whisper, his tone quiet and urgent.

“Gee, thanks Zayn.” Louis muttered, amusement creeping into his tone. With a best friend like Zayn, Louis had no need for enemies.

“I’m serious. Just for a couple of hours, please?” Zayn begged, his tone pleading.

“Why? And why are you _whispering?_ ” Louis asked, stifling a chuckle.

“I’m hiding in the toilet so I can talk to you. But that’s not the point; I want some time alone with Liam.” Zayn muttered quickly, embarrassed.

Louis did let out a loud laugh at that as he walked down the street. “Why don’t you just take him out?”

“Because that’s like, that’s like a _date!_ ” Zayn answered, snappily.

“So?” Louis asked, cocking an eyebrow and earning a huff from Zayn.

“I’m not you, Lou. I’m not good at like… romantic stuff. I’ve never done the whole, dating thing. You know that!”

Louis smiled, rolling his eyes even though Zayn couldn’t see him. “Fine.”

Louis could practically see the relief on Zayn’s face. “Wow, I thought it would’ve been harder to convince you.”

“Anything for you, honey bunny.” Louis spoke, obnoxiously, with a quiet chuckle. You owe me, though.” He added.

“Of course, Lou. Love you loads.”

-

Louis burst through his front door, shouting out an enthusiastic; “Harold, we’re going out!”

Harry looked up from his position on the sofa, shock evident on his pretty face. “We are?”  
  
“We are! Get ready, go, go!” He ushered Harry up with his hands, earning giggles out of the younger boy that warmed Louis’ heart.

He watched the boy stumble clumsily out of the room, a grin covering his own face. Maybe this was Zayn doing him a favour, not the other way around.

Louis looked over to Zayn who was leaning against the kitchen door and waggled his eyebrows. Zayn shot him a toothy grin and a thumbs up as Liam appeared behind Zayn from the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” Liam asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Me and Harry are going out.” Louis answered, quickly.

 “I was thinking me and you could stay in, watch a movie, order Chinese or something?” Zayn spoke before Liam had a chance to.

Louis watched with amusement as a blush filled Liam’s cheeks as he nodded eagerly.

He left the two to talk as he walked to his room, a smile on his lips.

When he reached his room, he slipped out of his work shirt and pulled on a clean black t shirt, leaving on his black skinny jeans. He slipped on a pair of vans and ran some gel through his hair, leaving it artfully tousled.

A soft knock on his door interrupted him, Harry’s head poking through the gap with a soft expression on his face.

“Ready?” He asked, his eyes running down Louis’ body in a way that Louis could only describe as _hungrily._

A triumphant smile working its way onto Louis’ lips, he nodded, walking towards Harry who stepped backwards and held the door open for him.

“Where are we going, anyways?” Harry asked, giving Louis the opportunity to check him out. He was clad in a pair of tight black skinny jeans, and a patterned floral shirt only half buttoned up that Louis would laugh at on anyone else but on Harry, fuck, it looked good.

Louis tapped his nose teasingly, leading the way out of the apartment and shouting goodbyes over his shoulder.

“Louuuuuu.” Harry whined, following behind him.

“Surprise.” Louis told him with a laugh, enjoying Harry’s frustration.

-

After a quick stop at the pizzeria down the street, Louis’ treat, he’d hailed a taxi and the pair had stumbled in, clumsy and giggling and clutching their pizza boxes.

“Primrose Hill please, mate.” Louis told the taxi driver, who nodded in acknowledgement.

Louis turned to Harry, finding the younger boy already watching him, a soft smile on his face.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Primrose Hill.” Harry spoke, his voice smooth and pleasant.

Louis waggled his eyebrows. “I know.”

“What are we going to do there?” Harry inquired, cocking an eyebrow in amusement.

“I’m going to show you my secret spot.” Louis told him, nodding curtly with a grin he couldn’t quite get rid of.

“Your secret spot?” Harry asked, biting his lip to fight back laughter.

“Yes. My secret spot.” Louis responded adamantly, narrowing his eyes at Harry playfully.

The taxi journey lasted only fifteen minutes, so by the time Louis had paid the taxi driver (ignoring Harry’s protests) and they’d made their way into the park, the sun was almost setting.

“It’s beautiful.” Harry murmured, his voice sounding awed.

“Just wait.” Louis told him softly, leading the pair through a lining of trees. They walked up a lightly sloped hill for a couple of minutes, took a left, and then stopped.

“Wow.” Harry whispered, standing beside Louis, their hands almost brushing.

Louis wasn’t entirely sure what made this place so spectacular. He’d come across it on an accident, and seemed to find himself returning time after time. It was just so secluded yet so open; bright green grass, flowers lining the edges of the rundown pathway, and a view of the entire city, so close but so far away. It was mesmerising.

Louis felt a surge of pride flow through him as he took in Harry’s reaction. He’d brought his most beautiful person to his most beautiful place. He almost felt out of place amongst all the beauty.

Louis walked forward a few steps and then sat down, watching as Harry followed. Louis grabbed the pizza boxes from him and slid them open, passing one to Harry that he accepted with a grin.

“You can see all of London from up here.” Harry said, excitedly, as he stuffed a mouthful of lukewarm pizza into his mouth.

Louis let out a laugh. “Not quite. But most of it, yeah. It’s nice up here. Peaceful. You’re reminded of how small and insignificant you are in this huge city.”

Harry nudged Louis softly. “You’re far from insignificant, Lou.”

Louis scoffed, taking a bite of pizza and mumbling, “Shut up and watch the sunset.”

And so they did. Neither boy spoke for a long while, both quietly eating. The silence was comfortable, familiar. There wasn’t a hint of tension in the air. It was perfect.

After a while, the boys found themselves lying side by side, looking upwards and the darkening sky.

“You come here with Zayn a lot?” Harry asked, breaking the silence.

Louis turned to look at Harry, their eyes meeting, smiles appearing on both of their faces. “Never.”

Shock flickered through Harry’s eyes briefly before confusion took over. “Why not?”

Louis shrugged, feeling embarrassed. “It’s my spot.”

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed, his eyes not leaving Louis’ face. “Why did you bring me here then?”

Louis looked away, letting silence fill the air for several moments before he spoke, feeling Harry’s eyes studying him intently. “It could be your spot too.” He whispered, before he could stop himself.

Harry didn’t say anything, but Louis felt his fingers searching until they found Louis’, entwining together and squeezing, almost as if to say, _I’d like that._

-

When they returned home several hours later, quiet giggles and stumbling through the darken hallways, the lights at the flat were all off.

Louis glanced back at Harry who looked just as confused, shutting the door behind them. It wasn’t until they heard a muffled moan that they clocked what was going on.

Louis let out a groan, covering his head with his hands as Harry stifled laughter.

“Poor, poor Liam.” He joked, grinning up at Harry. “Let’s hope Z doesn’t do too much damage.”

“Hey! Liam can be quite rough too, from what I’ve heard.” Harry replied, smirking as he waggled his eyebrows at the other boy.

Louis pretended to gag, mentally trying to shake the image of _that_ out of his head. It was one thing to have to think about Zayn having sex, but thinking about his sweet, innocent, childhood best friend doing the deed; disgusting.

Louis head snapped up, turning to Harry with wide eyes. “You don’t think they’re doing it on _my_ bed, do you?!”

Harry threw his head back in laughter, barely wincing at the punch Louis threw his way.

“Harry!” Louis whined, as Harry‘s body slowly stopped shaking.

“Sorry, baby. I’ll go check.”

Louis stiffened as he watched Harry’s retreating form turn the corner. He didn’t think Harry had even noticed the slip. It warmed Louis’ heart none the less.

When Harry returned, a triumphant grin on his lips and a thumbs up, Louis let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

“Guess we’re roomies tonight.” Louis told him, trying to not let panic settle in as he thought about the situation.

Harry looked up at Louis, a slightly shocked expression on his face. “Oh, don’t worry Lou; I can crash on the sofa or something…”

Louis quickly held up a hand to silence him, a fond smile spreading across his lips. ”Don’t be silly. Besides, I sleep better with someone next to me.”

Harry smiled in response, slipping off his jacket and nodding his head towards the direction of Louis’ bedroom. “Shall we?”

Louis hummed in response, leading the way and cursing himself for not tidying up early as he flicked the light on, turning back to watch Harry’s expression.

Harry’s eyes flickered around the room carefully before landing on Louis who was staring at him expectantly. An amused chuckle escaped Harry’s lips as he plonked himself down on the edge of the bed. “Tidy.”

Louis flipped the other boy off, shooting him his deadliest look and ignoring Harry’s cackling whilst he pulled out a pair of sweatpants and unzipped his jeans, all too aware of Harry’s eyes clinging to him.

“It’s impolite to stare, you know?” Louis spoke, breaking the silence. He turned his head to look at Harry, his lower regions growing immediately uncomfortable when he took in Harry’s expression.

Harry coughed, looking away and attempting to subtly rearrange himself in his jeans. Louis couldn’t help the smug feeling that spread throughout his body. Harry had reacted so quickly to seeing Louis half dressed. It turned Louis on even more.

He quickly finished getting changed and held up another pair of sweats to Harry. “You want these?”

“Nah.” Harry spoke quickly, standing up to unbutton his shirt. “I’ll just sleep in my boxers.”

Louis, who was having a hard enough time swallowing just watching Harry taking his shirt off, quickly excused himself to the toilet and ran from the room. He took a few deep breaths, brushed his teeth, and splashed some water on his face, attempting to calm his racing heart. This didn’t mean anything, right? It was just two lads, sharing a bed, no big deal.

Louis spent five minutes repeating that to himself and still didn’t believe it.

When he returned to the bedroom, Harry was already snuggled in bed, thankfully covered up mostly by the quilt, but the tops of his bare shoulders were poking out.

Louis felt a fond smile spread across his lips, mirrored by Harry. “Ready for bed?” He asked softly.

“Mmmm.” Harry grumbled in response, burying his head into the pillow.

Louis let out a chuckle and switched the light off, stumbling through the darkness with his hands held out.

“Ow!” He hissed loudly, his shoulder scraping across what he assumed was the sharp corner of his drawers. Now he knew why he always made Zayn turn the light off.

“Lou?” Harry’s voice sounded, amused.

“Shut up.” Louis snapped childishly, rubbing his shoulder as he finally found his side of the bed, pulling back the covers and climbing in with a huff.

“Did you hurt yourself, Loubear?” Harry asked, his voice quiet and teasing.

“Yes.” Louis responded, sticking his lower lip out like a toddler. His eyes had adjusted slightly to the darkness and he could see Harry’s crinkled eyes staring at him.

“Can I kiss it better for you?” Harry questioned, his tone still teasing but with an underlying edge of something else.

Louis’ breath hitched slightly before he sat up, slowly taking Harry’s warm hand and placing it on his shoulder.

“There? Is that where you’re hurt?” Harry whispered, his voice now undeniably husky.

“Yes.” Louis repeated in a whisper, Harry’s voice going straight to his crotch.

Louis heard and felt Harry sitting up, shifting his body closer to Louis. He waited impatiently, his heart pounding, as Harry’s hand was replaced with something much softer, much lighter; his lips.

One, two, three soft kisses were pressed against Louis’ upper arm, each as loving as the last. Louis and Harry’s eyes met briefly through the darkness, and then Harry was leaning in again. This time, the kisses were pressed to Louis neck, then his jaw. These kisses were harsh and wet and rough and needy, and left Louis impossibly hard and almost gasping for air.

Louis wasted no time in reaching up to tangle a hand in Harry’s hair, pulling his face up to meet Louis’. Then, Louis lent in and crashed their lips together.

Kissing Harry was like coming up for fresh air. It was just this amazing feeling that Louis couldn’t even attempt to describe, all he knew was that he never wanted it to stop.

Harry’s hands wound themselves around Louis waist, pulling the older boy onto his lap, his tongue finding its way into Louis’ mouth. Both boys let out soft moans when Louis grinded down softly onto Harry’s crotch. If there had been any doubts about whether Harry was as turned on as Louis, they were quashed now. Louis could feel Harry’s hardened length straining through his boxers underneath, the thought alone causing Louis to let out another groan.

Louis gave a soft tug at Harry’s hair, causing Harry’s hips to buck upwards. Before he knew it, Harry had flipped the pair over, pinning Louis against the mattress and grinding against him roughly. Both boys were panting and achingly hard.

“Please, Harry.” Louis had whined, when Harry had moved his mouth to begin attacking his neck.

“Tell me what you want, baby.” Harry demanded, his hand travelling down Louis’ chest while he was speaking.

“Touch me, please.” Louis begged, throwing his head backwards in pleasure when Harry’s hand gripped Louis’ length through his boxers.

“So hard for me.” Harry had mumbled, just as his hand was beginning to slide into Louis boxers.

And then, Louis’ phone began to ring, the loud, shrilling, _annoying_ sound break the pair out of their actions immediately.

“Fuck.” Harry had groaned, rolling off of Louis and running a hand down his face.

Louis didn’t think he’d ever hated his phone so much in his life. Rolling onto his side, he grabbed it roughly and glanced at the caller i.d, rolling his eyes before swiping answer.

“Niall, this had better be fucking important otherwise I’m going to-“

“Let me in, Lou!” Niall cheerful voice burst through the phone so loudly that Louis had to hold it away from his ear.

“What? Are you drunk?” Louis asked, incredulously, watching as Harry stifled a giggle.

“I’m outside Lou Lou! I lost my keys!” Niall bellowed, giving Louis his answer. Yes, he was drunk.

With a sigh, Louis heaved himself out of bed and made his way to the door. “I’ll be right back.” He whispered to Harry, not even able to be annoyed at Niall when Harry was in his bed staring at him like that.

He rushed to the front door and yanked it open, determined to give Niall his deadliest glare. Instead, a fond smile unavoidably made its way to his lips. Niall looked like he’d been dragged through a bush, and Louis was 99% sure that there was actual glitter on his cheeks.

“Hi Lou-eeeee!” Niall sung, giggling as Louis covered his mouth.

“Shhh, Nialler. Let’s get you to bed, okay?” Louis told him softly with an eye roll, helping Niall down onto the sofa.

A second set of hands appeared, along with a blanket. Louis looked up.

“Thought you could use a hand.” Harry whispered, a small smile gracing his lips.

“Thanks.” Louis grinned, bending over to pull Niall’s shoes off.

“This happen a lot?” Harry asked.

Ignoring the light smack to his bottom, Louis stood up and wandered into the kitchen, the quiet padding of Harry’s feet following him. “Occasionally. He basically turns into a toddler when he’s drunk.” Louis said, attempting to sound annoyed but probably only coming across as fond.

“You’ve changed a lot, you know?” Harry pondered quietly, his voice not sad but more contemplating.

“Have I?” Louis asked, curious, leaning against the counter with a bowl and a bottle of water, both for Niall, the first for if he vomited in the night (Louis was _not_ cleaning that up again), the second for when he woke up parched, in his hands.

Harry mirrored his position, his eyes boring into Louis’. “That used to be you out there.” Harry said with a snort, tilting his head in the direction of the living room.

Louis stuck his tongue out playfully, but was hit with a pang of guilt and sadness. “Do you prefer that Louis? The old Louis?”

Harry frowned slightly, stepping towards Louis with a determined look in his eyes. “Don’t you get it, Lou? The Louis you are now is the same Louis I was in love with a week ago, the same Louis I was in love with three years ago, the same Louis I’ll be in love with tomorrow, and the next day, and the next-“

Louis interrupted him with a kiss.

“I love you.”

-

In the most innocent of ways, Louis had slept with all of the boys. Liam wasn’t a cuddler at all, preferring to stick to his side of the bed with his own space. Zayn let Louis fidget about until he was comfortable, allowing himself to be used as a Greek God shaped pillow. Niall was the no boundaries, suffocating, too warm, snoring type, who would flop onto Louis and stay that way until he was physically shoved off. Harry… Harry was perfect. Louis’ and Harry’s bodies fit together so nicely, so comfortably, and so perfectly, with complete ease that at times Louis found it hard to believe that they weren’t made for each other. There was no awkward shifting around to get into a good position, it just happened. Louis never slept better than he did next to Harry, limbs entwined.

Waking up to Harry was another thing Louis was incredibly appreciative of. Sleeping Harry was just so peaceful to watch.

Louis found himself staring at the younger boy for an immeasurable amount of time. He was so beautiful; Louis didn’t know how he’d ended up with someone so staggering. The sight of him asleep was so familiar to Louis he almost wanted to cry. He’d never imagined he’d get to see this again, let alone hold him in his arms.

When Harry began to stir, Louis quickly leant forward and pressed his lips against the other boys.

Harry’s eyes opened, crinkling at the edges as his dimples appearing. “That was a nice thing to wake up to.”

Louis grinned, leaning forward to capture his lips again. “We need to brush our teeth.”

“I’m perfectly fine right here, thank you very much.”

-

They were at a club in Dalston when it happened. Louis had left a snogging Liam and Zayn and a tipsy, giggly Harry to get more drinks.

“Can I have a vodka coke and a beer please, mate?” Louis shouted over the booming music to the bartender.

Louis received a thumbs up in response, and turned back to shoot a grin at Harry who was watching him from the other side of the room, a lazy smirk on his lips.

“Excuse me!” A deep voice interrupted Louis from his staring match with Harry.

Louis turned his head, meeting the dark brown eyes of a man he was fairly certain he had never met before. Louis cocked his eyebrows at the guy questioningly.

“Can I get you a drink?” Brown eyes asked, nodding towards the bar with a cheeky smile on his lips. A smile with no dimples.

Louis felt his cheeks colour and let out a laugh, shaking his head softly. “Sorry, mate. Just bought one.”

The man leant in, placing one hand on the small of Louis’ back. “Sorry, what was that?” He shouted into Louis ear, the music almost too loud for conversation.

“I said no thanks, mate!”

“You sure? What about a dance?”

Louis leant in to answer when he was gripped from behind and roughly pulled backwards into a hard but comforting chest. He could smell Harry’s enticing cologne around him, and bent towards the man who was watching the exchange with furrowed eyebrows.

“I’m sort of with someone.” He yelled, pointing his thumb back at Harry.

“I’m his boyfriend. So you can fuck right off.” Harry snapped over Louis head, harshly.

Louis recoiled from Harry, turning to face him. Harry was absolutely seething. His eyes were dark and narrowed all traces of the cheeky friendliness Louis usually experienced gone.

Louis quickly turned back to apologize to the man but found him already gone. With a frown, Louis turned to Harry again, still held tightly in his muscled arms.

“That was incredibly rude, Harry. And uncalled for.” Louis shouted, annoyance quickly flooding through him. The man had been harmless, and there was no way that Louis would’ve done anything with him. Harry knew that. He normally shrugged such situations off with complete composure and ease.

“He was all over you.” Harry snapped back, glaring at Louis.

“And that was my fault, was it? Jesus fucking Christ Harry, are you stupid? Did I look interested?”

“It looked pretty fucking cosy from where I was sitting.” Harry shouted, his shoulders shrugging in annoyance.

Louis stared at Harry, momentarily lost for words before shoving Harry away from him. “Fuck this.”

Louis turned and stormed towards the entrance, luckily not having checked in a coat. He knew Harry well enough to know that the boy was right behind him, but he needed to get out of there.

“Lou! Wait!” Harry called loudly once they’d got outside, racing down the street to catch up with Louis.

“What’s wrong with you?” Louis snapped, turning around to face Harry. He was aware that passer-by’s were staring, but luckily at the hour there weren’t many people out.

“I’m sorry-“

Louis cut him off. “You never… Boys have chatted me up before. You’ve never reacted like that… You’re always so calm… What’s happened to you?”

Harry sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “I-“

“We’ll finish this at home.” Louis snapped, just as he signalled down a taxi.

Harry frowned but nodded, climbing in the vehicle beside Louis.

They were silent the entire journey home. Louis stared out the window without a word, feeling Harry’s eyes on him the entire time. When the taxi stopped outside Louis’ flat he wordlessly let Harry pay the driver and then walked inside.

“Louis, what did I do wrong?” Harry asked, as soon as they stepped inside, his eyes and expression pleading.

“Nothing.” Louis replied, staring at the floor.

“You’re pissed off.” Harry answered, which was obvious.

“Yes.”

“Why?” Harry asked, stepping towards him, his arms reaching out.

“Don’t, Harry.” Louis snapped, holding his arms out in protest.

“I’m sorry for how I acted, okay? I was dickish and rude and I overreacted. I’m sorry.”

“I’ve never seen you snap like that before.” Louis murmured, silent, still not looking up at Harry.

“I’m sorry, boo. It’s just… I’ve just got you back, and I can’t lose you again. I won’t.”

“But you weren’t going to, Harry! I love _you_ , all I want is _you._ Do you not trust me? Can’t you see how I feel about you? If all it took for you to react like that was seeing me talking to someone else then you clearly don’t. That hurts.” Louis explained, throwing out his hands in annoyance.

Harry sighed, running his hands through his hair. “I know, I was stupid okay? I was jealous. I just wanted him to know that you’re all mine. I didn’t want to see you drift away again.”

Louis head snapped up, fury rushing through him. “Excuse me? Are you forgetting who fucking ended things with who?”

Harry swore under his breath, his shoulders tensing, a clear indicator to Louis that he was getting angry too. “You pushed me to end things with you, Louis. You weren’t _there_ anymore-“

“Fuck. You.” Louis spat at him, his breathing laboured, fist clenched by his side.

 

One second, Harry had been standing in front of him, glaring, then next, Harry was marching towards him, and then their lips were attached.

 

 

Louis had not planned on this tonight, but there was no way on earth he was going to stop it. Kissing Harry was absolutely heavenly, the softness of his plump lips roughly pressed against his own, he couldn’t believe it was happening.

 

Louis slid a hand into Harry’s hair, and tugged it roughly, earning a raspy moan out of Harry in response.  
  
“Fuck.” Harry mumbled against Louis’ lips, echoing Louis’ own thoughts. One hand sliding down to cup Louis’ ass, Harry shoved him harshly against the wall, pressing their bodies impossibly close together.

 

Louis didn’t think he’d ever been so hard in his life, his cock straining against his jeans, aching to be let out. When Harry bucked his hips against Louis’, Louis couldn’t help but let out a moan, his head tilting backwards in pleasure at the friction.

 

Harry used the opportunity to trail his lips down to Louis’ neck, sucking and biting and licking as he went.

 

“Tell me you haven’t been with anyone else.” Harry growled, as his lips attacked Louis’ neck.

 

“Nobody else, H.” Louis replied, breathlessly, letting his eyes fall shut in pleasure.

 

Harry let out a pleased grunt, gripping Louis’ waist tightly. “Good. Me either.”

 

Louis’ shock was quickly forgotten when Harry bit down softly on a particularly sensitive spot on Louis’ neck.

 

Louis’ breaths were coming out quickly and loudly. Grabbing Harry’s ass, he pulled Harry’s hips back to his, desperate for the contact.

 

He could feel the thick outline of Harry’s cock through his impossibly tight jeans, and he was certain that Harry could feel his own, pressed up against the other boys’ leg.

 

“Fuck, Lou.” Harry groaned out, breathlessly. “Let me suck you, please.” Harry begged, dropping onto his knees before Louis even had a chance to respond.

 

“Please, Harry.” Louis whimpered, not even attempting to hide his desperation. Six months had been a long time, and no amount of masturbation could ever feel as satisfying as the real thing.

 

Harry wasted no time in yanking down Louis’ jeans, and then his boxers. Louis watched as Harry’s eyes flickered across Louis’ length, his eyes darkening as he ran his tongue over his lips.

 

“You’ve got such a beautiful cock.” He mumbled, wrapping a hand around Louis’ base. Harry looked up at Louis’ loud moan, pleased.

  
“Have you missed this, baby?” Harry asked, his voice deep and raspy, a small smirk on his lips.

 

“Please.” Louis whined, bucking his hips into Harry’s hand.

 

“Tell me how much you’ve missed it.” Harry repeated, insistently, keeping his hand still, gripped tightly around Louis.

 

“Missed it so much, baby. So much.” Louis let out, breathlessly, watching Harry’s eyes light up, before the smirk returned to his lips.

 

“Gonna make you feel so good, Lou.” Harry told the standing boy, beginning to slowly move his hand up and down Louis’ shaft, his eyes trained on Louis’ face, moans and curses falling from the smaller boy’s lips.  
  
“More, Harry. Please. Fuck.” Louis whimpered as Harry leant in to give a long, warm, slow lick.

 

“This what you want? My mouth on you?” Harry taunted, giving Louis’ dick another teasing lick.

 

“Want your lips wrapped around my cock, Haz. Please.” Louis begged, letting his mouth run wild.

 

Harry didn’t have to be told twice. Opening his mouth, he pressed forward, taking in as much of Louis’ dick as could fit, hollowing out his cheeks.

 

Louis let out a loud grunt, gripping Harry’s hair and bucking his hips forward, a loud moan escaping from his lips. The feel of Harry’s mouth was unlike anything Louis had ever experienced.

 

Letting out a moan that vibrated around Louis’ dick at the tug of his hair, Harry swirled his tongue around Louis’ tip, before gripping his arse and pulling Louis further into his mouth.

 

“Your mouth feels so good.” Louis moaned, his head falling backwards, his knees barely holding him upwards.

  
Harry’s dark eyes flickered up to Louis’ as he slowly pulled off, jerking Louis’ quickly as the filthy words left his mouth. “I want to fuck you, baby. You want that?”

Louis couldn’t have refused that even if he’d wanted to. “Please.” He whispered, watching as Harry jumped up to unbuckle his jeans.

Louis reached out a hand to help, his eyebrows furrowing when Harry stepped backwards, teasingly. “Tonight’s all about you, boo. You can pay me back in the morning.” Harry winked then pulled his boxers down.

 

Louis’ throat tightened, his dick straining as he took in the sight of Harry’s cock. He almost drooled. “Need you inside me.” He murmured, panting slightly.

 

“Bedroom.” Harry ordered, kicking his jeans out of the way as he hurriedly followed Louis into the other room.

 

Thank god Liam and Zayn didn't come home for a few hours. 

 

-

“Baby.” A soft whisper appeared, causing Louis to stir slightly. “Wake up.”

 

“Nnmmghh.” Louis mumbled unintelligibly, receiving an angel like giggle in response.

 

Louis opened one eye slowly to be met with Harry’s face, only inches from his, a smile on his lips. “What was that?” He asked, with a laugh.

 

“It’s too early. ‘M tired.” Louis grumbled, a pout on his lips.

 

Harry leant forward and pecked his outstretched lips, before sliding his hands under Louis’ body and lifting him easily from the bed.

 

“Harry!” Louis squealed, arms flailing about.

 

Harry’s grin only spread, as he jogged into the kitchen, narrowly missing whacking Louis’ head on the door frame.

 

“Oops!”

 

“I could’ve been decapitated!” Louis cried, holding back laughter as Harry put him down.

 

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic Lou!” Zayn called from across the room.

 

Their eyes met and matching grins crossed their faces. Louis couldn’t remember a time where he’d seen Zayn looking so happy, so rested, and so relaxed. He just looked _good._ Louis could see in Zayn’s eyes that Zayn was thinking the same thing about Louis.

 

“You can’t talk Zayn. I spilt beer on your shirt the other week and you _flipped_ out-“

 

“It was an expensive top!”

 

Liam and Harry’s laughter interrupted their childish bickering. Leaning back into Harry’s chest, Louis pouted. “I hate you all.”

 

“You don’t hate me, do you boo?” Harry asked, cooing in Louis’ ear as he wrapped his strong arms around the smaller boy from behind.

 

“I hate everyone apart from Curly.” Louis stated, nodding his head adamantly.

 

“I guess you don’t want any of the pancakes I’ve cooked then?” Liam asked, teasingly, lifting up a plate piled high that Louis hadn’t noticed before.

 

Louis bit back a grin. “What was I saying? You’re my favourite, Li Li!”

 

-

 

The next few days passed blissfully in a blur of kisses, laughter, and ‘I love you’s. Louis couldn’t believe how quickly his life had turned around.

 

It was a Friday night when Louis looked around and realised that _this_ was how his life was meant to pan out. Maybe it was the alcohol that had been generously passed round, but Louis felt _warm_ and _excited_ about the future for the first time in a long while.

 

Tucked up in Harry’s arms, Niall laid out on the floor with a beer, chatting shit as usual, Liam pretending to pay attention to him as Zayn giggled into his neck, Louis smiled.

 

Louis couldn’t bring himself to regret anything that had happened. Sure, he’d missed months of being with Harry, but he thought that maybe they’d needed that time apart, to grow, to learn about themselves, to find out that yeah, maybe they could live without each other, but they didn’t want to. They didn’t ever want to.

 

“What are you smiling about, baby?” Harry murmured into Louis’ ear, the soft brushing of his lips leaving tingles on Louis’ skin.

 

“Everything’s worked out, hasn’t it?” Louis responded, looking up at the curly haired lad that he’d been in love with for so long.

 

Harry didn’t reply. Instead, he smiled; a proper big, cheesy, genuine smile and leant in to press his lips against Louis’.

 

**It all fit so perfectly, Harry’s hand in his, Harry’s lips against his. Louis was going to be alright. They were alright.**

 

_**The end** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's that. Hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> I have written an epilogue to this story, I don't know if anyone would be interested in reading it? Please let me know!
> 
> I'd also like to apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors, most of this story was written between 1-3am over many many weeks, and I haven't had anyone check it over for me! 
> 
> Lots of love x


	3. Epilogue - Alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the epilogue guys!
> 
> Looking back on this story, I'm a little disappointed by lack of details and scenes I would've liked to add, but this has taken me so so long to write, by the end of it I was just rushing to finish, so, sorry if the quality has declined throughout!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this extra chapter, let me know what you think!   
> xx

“You’re doing it wrong.”  
  
Zayn looked up from where he’d been dissembling his bed, a scowl on his lips. “I don’t suppose you fancy helping? Like you’re supposed to be doing?”  
  


Louis scoffed, rolling onto his stomach. “I am helping. I’m giving you direction.”  
  


Zayn mumbled something grumpily under his breath that sounded a lot like _twat_ , which Louis ignored with a chuckle.  
  


“You want a beer?” He asked instead, heaving his body off of the hard wooden floor.  
  


“Please.” Zayn replied, not taking his eyes off the mangled bed frame he was holding.  
  


Louis walked out of the room, whistling a tune to some shitty song he’d heard on one of Harry’s _indie_ CDs, yanking the fridge door open, he let out a yelp as he felt a pair of arms encircle his waist.  
  


“Boo.” He heard Harry’s raspy voice whisper into his ear.  
  


“You scared the shit out of me!” Louis whined, turning in Harry’s arms to face him.  
  


Harry shot him a cheeky grin and leant down to peck his lips.  
  


“Your reinforcements are here!” Liam called out as he walked into the kitchen after Harry, slinging an arm around his broad shoulders.  
  


“Thank god.” Louis muttered dramatically. “Zayn does _not_ know what he’s doing.”  
  


“Oi!” Zayn’s voice sounded from the bedroom. The three boys chuckled, the sound of Zayn’s footsteps approaching.  
  


“Louis hasn’t been helping me at all.” Zayn moaned, walking into Liam’s outstretched arms and letting himself be cooed all over.  
  


“Gross.” Louis spoke, sticking his tongue out at the pair who obnoxiously began to kiss in front of him.  
  


“Let’s go see how badly Zayn’s messed this up then.” Liam said teasingly as the pair broke apart, taking Zayn by the hand and letting himself be lead out of the room.  
  


Turning to face Harry again, Louis heart swelled impossibly; just as it did every time he laid eyes upon the gorgeous boy.  
  


“Your mum’s called, _again._ ” Louis told him, giggling slightly at Harry’s fond eye roll. “She wants to know how the moving’s going. Told her I still haven’t managed to get rid of Zayn yet, but it’s in the works.”  
  


Harry chuckled loudly, his hand running up and down Louis’ back softly. “Don’t be mean. Zayn’s your best mate.”  
  


Louis shrugged, playfully. “Eh, he’s alright I suppose. Guess I’ll actually have to start keeping the place clean once you move in, ey?”  
  


Harry grinned down at him, a lock of his hair falling in front of his face. “Don’t act like you’ll be doing any cleaning, Lou. We both know what you’re like.”  
  


“Heeeey!” Louis protested, reaching up to tuck Harry’s hair behind his ears.  
  


“S’the truth.” Harry murmured, his eyes flickering down to Louis’ lips.  
  


“Don’t know what you’re on about, Haz.” Louis whispered in response, leaning upwards to lock their lips together.  
  


Their kiss was interrupted by an almighty crash, a shout, and then a loud, “Well, that's one way to get the bed down.”  
  


Harry and Louis locked eyes, both bursting into laughter. Their entwined hands swinging in between them, they walked leisurely to the bedroom to find the bed in bits over the floor, Liam and Zayn on opposite sides, looking guilty.  
  


“You broke it, didn’t you?” Louis asked, his tone a mixture of accusation and amusement.  
  


“We didn’t _break_ it Louis. It just… fell apart when we sat on it.”  
  


The room was silent for a moment before it was filled with laughter. Louis and Zayn locked eyes and Louis heart swelled with fondness and love for the boy. He was going to miss him as a roommate.

 

It’d been almost four months since Harry had re-entered Louis’ life. Liam and Harry were spending literally every night at the boys’ flat, so after a very mature, adult discussion between Zayn and Louis, involving a game of rock paper scissors to determine who would move out, they’d decided that Louis would ask Harry to move in, and Zayn would ask to move in with Liam.  
  


It’d all worked out perfectly, to be honest. Louis and Zayn had spent the last week moving Zayn’s stuff into Liam’s flat, and Harry’s stuff into Louis’.  
  


Zayn had decided that, as Liam was currently sleeping on a mattress, he’d move his bed over there. It was the last thing belonging to Zayn in their flat. The thought was oddly saddening.  
  


Stepping out of Zayn’s now ex-room though, Louis looked around the flat and felt a surge of pride flow through him. This was his and Harry’s flat now. His and Harry’s. It was a good thought.  
  


Louis knew Zayn would be a part of his life forever, so he knew that the little inkling of sadness that he felt would soon fade. The next chapter of his life was starting; a fresh start of sorts, and Louis couldn’t be more excited.  
  


His thoughts were once again interrupted by the front door swinging open. “The van’s out front.” Niall’s voice echoed through the flat.  
  


Zayn and Liam emerged from the bedroom with a box each, smiles on their faces.  
  


“That everything?” Louis asked, nodding towards the boxes.  
  


“Yeah.” Liam replied, shooting him an excited grin.  
  


“You sure you don’t want us to drive over with you?” Harry asked for millionth time.  
  


Zayn rolled his eyes and nudged Harry with his shoulder. “Nah, we’re good. You guys stay and enjoy the empty flat for a while.”  
  


Louis flipped Zayn off who simply smirked in response, making his way towards the front door. Niall ran ahead, followed closely by Liam who shouted a goodbye over his shoulder.  
  


“So, you guys’ll be over for dinner tomorrow night then?” Zayn asked, turning to face the pair once he reached the door.  
  


“Wouldn’t miss it.” Louis said, trying to ignore the slight wobbling of his lips as he shot Zayn a reassuring smile.  
  


Harry reached forward and grabbed the box from Zayn, an empathetic smile on his lips, “I’ll take this down to the van.” He spoke, kissing Louis on the cheek before hastily exiting the flat.  
  


Louis’ heart swelled once again; his love for the boy a never ending surprise to him.  
  


“Come here.” Zayn muttered, his eyes on Louis' face, his arms opening.  
  


Louis launched himself into his best friend’s arms, gripping him tightly. The two boys hugged furiously for several long moments, all sniffles and squeezing, before Zayn pressed a rough kiss to Louis’ forehead and pulled back slightly. “I love you so much.”  
  


“Shut up, you soppy git.” Louis responded, furiously wiping away the tears pouring from his eyes.  
  


Zayn grinned at him, giving him one last squeeze before pulling away. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lou.”  
  


“Wait!” Louis called as the other boy began to walk away.  
  


Zayn stopped, turning his head, his eyebrows cocked.  
  


“Thank you.” Louis mumbled, his voice sincere and heartfelt.  
  


Zayn’s eyes crinkled as he looked at Louis, nodding in his direction. “Best mates forever?”  
  


“Forever and ever.” Louis replied, a grin spreading onto his lips.  
  


Zayn threw his head back in laughter before waving and walking away, slowly, just as Harry rounded the corner.  
  
  
Zayn patted him on the back as he walked past, shooting him a grin that made Louis smile.  Zayn and Harry had spent so much time together lately it was as if they’d been best friends for years. The thought made Louis want to burst with happiness.  
  


“C’mere.” Louis mumbled, motioning to Harry insistently.  
  


Harry giggled, stepping forward and stumbling into the apartment, hitting his arm on the door as he went. “Oops.”  
  


Louis chuckled, opening his arms and pulling Harry into his body. “Hi.” He murmured with a giggle, pressing a soft kiss to Harry’s lips.  
  


“You ready for this?” Harry asked, as he pulled away, keeping their bodies close.  
  


“Ready for what?” Louis asked, a smile on his lips at Harry’s light tone.  
  


“The rest of forever?” Harry answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  


Louis laughed, leaning in to peck Harry again. “Never been more ready for anything in my life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's over!
> 
> There's 3 fics i'm mid-writing, what would you like to read next?:
> 
> 1) Best friends Louis and Niall go to Glastonbury and meet the other three - Larry
> 
> 2) Sixth form AU - Ziam (THIS FIC IS GOING TO BE HEARTBREAKING, WARNING)
> 
> 3) 'This Is Us', the story of One Direction - OT5 (This has been one of the hardest, saddest, most time consuming, research based pieces of work I've ever started. It's actually depressing me how much things have changed from TXF to now!)
> 
> Leave a comment and let me know?


End file.
